


A hawk's song

by Lady_Tony_Stark



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-17 20:41:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1401763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Tony_Stark/pseuds/Lady_Tony_Stark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Natasha dies, Clint barton finds out that he has to train his new partner. What he never expects is to actually like her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello! I just wanted to note, that I am also the writer ladylionheart on fanfiction.net, and that I thank you for looking at my story!Thanks, and I hope to hear from you. ^^

**Prologue:**

Some warriors are created like well-made swords – forged in fire. The strongest of these are the ones who walk through the hottest of flames; forged in the fires of Hell, taken from the blaze, hammered once more and returned to the flame to be remade again.

 They are among the strongest... But what none of them will ever admit to, the very flames that made these warriors the strongest in existence are so hot that it leaves behind a weakness. If you hammer just so, you will shatter iron and leave nothing in its wake.

 

 

 

 

**Chapter one:**

Catalina Santana looked around the archery room as she stepped inside, fingers wrapped loosely around the bow in her hand, but with a moment's notice ready to draw. Not that she thought she would need to, even if she could hear the sounds of a bow being drawn, she was pretty sure the agent she'd come to see wouldn't shoot her. She couldn't see him, couldn't find him in the inky darkness of the room, but she knew he was there. Holding the bow slightly away from her to make it obvious she wasn't a danger to him she swallowed hard.

"Agent Barton? I'm Catalina Santana," She said quietly. They'd told her he was okay; but she knew that he'd lost his partner. She had no interest in startling a trained killer with her appearance when he was guilt ridden and grief stricken.

 Clint tensed at the sound of her voice as he studied the woman before him from his vantage point on the platform behind her. While she was young, if she were older then 25 he'd eat his bow, she moved with a fighter's grace that spoke of long training. Tilting his head slightly as he listened to her speak he swallowed the grief that nearly gutted him. Listening to her was like listening to Natasha, even if the girl was American, there was something in her voice, the way she shaped the words that sounded of the Russian highlands. Looking around the room that both him and Natasha had designed, he swallowed hard; he didn't want to train someone else in here. The room was a personal training ground, one that had been designed for him, small targets, big targets, fast moving ones, slow moving ones... Everything an archer of his skill could want.

 Quietly he watched the woman turn her head ever so slightly – listening. She knew he was here, hearing him probably, but her instincts, and senses weren't well trained yet. She was tall, not as tall as him, or Natasha had been, and not as muscled as she should be. She had skills but she was still green. He doubted this girl had seen battle, let alone a war. Looking at the long blond hair that was bound up into a tight braid he made a face, wondering if he could force her to cut it. After all, long hair just gave the enemy a handhold to work with. Finally moving he silently crossed the platform to walk down the stairs behind her.

 "You need to work on your other senses. Eyes and hearing are not everything. Your sense of touch and awareness, you could have easily realized where I was long before I moved...We'll work on that." Clint's voice was flat, his face blank. But in his eyes there flickered something more, they spoke of a deep pain and of a man who'd lost his entire world.

"You're an archer, and an archer cannot always rely on sight. In fact, more often than not, you will be as blind as a bat trying to find your prey."

 Catalina turned slightly as she heard him approach, finding him as he moved, frowning at him. While she wanted to lash out as she met his eyes she saw the pain, saw the knowledge that separated them, though she was only seven years his junior. In that moment it felt like a lifetime. Tilting her head slightly he swallowed the retort, because she knew Fury had sent her here, despite everyone thinking Clint Barton should still be on leave, because he wanted her to learn from the best, and no one could deny he was the best archer in SHIELD – if not the world.

 Clint turned away from her, moving further into the room. "This is the archery room. You will practice now, so I can see how much talent you really have. Fury's letting his 'talent hunting' slip a little low these days." He goaded, smirking ever so slightly as he watched anger flair through green eyes, daring her to say something.

"You have one minute, from the time I say green, to the moment I say red. Once I say green, you will try to hit as many targets as possible, as close to the center as you can get. It will give a good picture of how well you work under pressure. Ready? Green." Clint said simply watching her. While she needed more practice, she was good. With the right training, she could be world class.

Looking around the room Catalina raised a bow, similar to his, though more slender and lighter, made to fit a woman's hand. Though not nearly as well muscled as him, she stayed in shape enough to pull the bowstring back. Watching the target move for a moment, not the quick split second targeting Clint could do, she needed a few moments, but with her shot she found the target. Not perfect aim, but close, and she even had managed to 'kill' Loki, somewhat amused that Clint had pinned a few pictures of the Jotun sorcerer onto some of the targets.

"I think I like this room." She decided after he told her to stop.

 "We're going to have a lot of work. Your arm gets tired too easily and that's when your aim starts to falter. We'll work on endurance, muscle memory, and strength. Of course you like this room, it's an archer's paradise. Focus." He ordered simply. "We'll work on sensory deprivation as well, which will heighten your senses. Since you, as most are, so dependent on your eyesight, that is what we will work on first. You have a room already?"

 "I do." Catalina frowned looking at the man in front of her, wondering why in the world he wanted to know.

 "Good. I want to see you here again in an hour. Bring every weapon you own for examination, if you have weak weapons, they'll be replaced. I will teach you more than just archery, because sometimes arrows run out, and you need something for close quarter combat." He admitted as studied her before making her leave.

Watching her go he wondered if he could actually get through training her when the slight tinge of a Russian accent made him want to cry. He missed Natasha, and as he watched the blond woman leave, he forced down his emotions even more.

* * *

 Catalina rolled her eyes a little as she walked back into the room looking at the man sitting on the bench waiting for her. Silently she dumped a short sword onto the bench, along with the two hunting knives, a couple throwing knives and a small hand bow that could be fired with one hand. Glancing at Clint for a moment as he started to examine her weapons, she was content with the silence as she started looking around the room. Her fingers twitched ever so slightly as her eyes found a target, imagining practice. Not totally spacing out, she was just waiting for him to finish. Not wanting to burden the man who wanted nothing to do with her more then she already was.

 Frowning slightly as he glanced up at Catalina, he looked vaguely annoyed as he watched her twitch, thinking it wasn't a good sign, before realizing that she was target practicing without having a actual bow. Good. That would make things easier, as she was eager to learn. He could push her harder, faster that way. Running his fingers over the blade he looked amused to find that they were all well-balanced, hand crafted weapons. "Good choices. But we're going to be adding long range, and short range guns to your arsenal as well. You might not carry them, but if you run out of the weapons, you can pick up a gun from fallen enemies or allies." He admitted before handing her the throwing knives back.

"Show me." He ordered.

"You do realize you could ask, and not demand," she mused.

"Just throw."

 Nodding slightly Catalina paused, balancing the knives in her hands before flicking a wrist, watching the knives turn end over end, thudding into each other nearly. While her aim suffered some with a bow, she'd spent a lot of time learning how to throw knives.

"Not that bad. I've seen worse." Clint admitted begrudgingly – an almost compliment. "We'll work on that as well. Come with me. We'll test your hand to hand skills." He ordered before walking out of the room, not even bothering to wait to see if she'd follow.

* * *

 By the time she was through with hand to hand, Catalina was feeling bruised and battered, not only in body but her pride had taken a beating as well. She'd been so proud of herself, but one glance at Clint and the other trainer, Frank, the woman hadn't realized just how far behind she was. Not realizing that while Clint and Frank were superior to her in skill and ability she was a step above most other people.

Shooting a glance at the man standing next to her, annoyance and anger radiating from her gaze as she expected anything but praise whilst leaning forward to let her bloody nose drip into her cupped hands.

 "You don't want to work with me, which is fine. I don't want to work with a man who's going to hate me for something I can't change. But we're stuck, and we're going to have to learn how to at least work together. I refuse to be miserable learning from one of the best agents in SHIELD." Catalina said sounding angry and defensive, before huffing out a sigh as he moved to her side. "Now that I've gotten that out of the way, go ahead and tell me how horrible I am." She muttered resentfully, expecting him to try and convince her she was so bad that she'd just give up and quit.

 "Pinch the bridge of your nose where the firmer bones are, it'll close off the capillaries and stop the bleeding." Clint ordered, completely ignoring the rest of her words about him hating her. "And I'm not the best SHIELD has to offer, that's a lie they tell you to make you feel special." He studied her for a long moment." You have a long way to go in comparison to people like Frank and me but you're head and shoulders above what most of the 'grunts' at SHIELD have to offer. Were you just a normal agent, you would already be done with training, but as you're above the standard for idiots and cannon fodder you wont be a normal operative. You are a specialist, and therefore you will be trained high above that standard..." Clint paused. "Stop smiling at me Frank before I rip your spine out."

The smile vanished quickly, even as the other trainer watched the two new partners. "Right now, you're sore, tired, and grumpy. Good. It means that you understand your place, as of right now – it's at the bottom. Fortunately for you, that doesn't mean that you have to fetch coffee, and run paperwork."

 "Oh good, I hate coffee and paperwork, its good to have others for that." Catalina mused as she wiped her nose, glad to see that it had stopped bleeding, shooting a glance towards her trainer.

 Clint didn't physically react to the joke, though there was a flash of amusement in his eyes at her comment. "I'll show you what you'll be capable of once your training is finished." Clint said as he moved towards Frank, the two moving through the workout with lighting quick moves, punches too fast to follow. And when Frank hit the mat Clint wasn't even breathing hard. Glancing over at his trainee he tilted his head slightly, "Once you can beat Frank, I will know that I can let you loose on the world and not have to worry about you dying a stupid death." He said to Catalina even as he stepped over Frank who was lying on the floor groaning.

 "Quit being a baby Frank. Drama queen." Clint said looking amused as he glanced down towards Frank before looking back at Catalina. "Tomorrow you'll receive a schedule. You will follow that schedule to the letter, if you're late, miss something, or don't show up, I will hunt you down, drag you there, and you will be severely punished." And you do not want to be punished." Clint leaned forward his face inches from hers, blue gray met green as trainer and trainee studied each other.

"I'm sure you'd be the most unpleasant person to come looking for me. Don't worry I'll be where ever I'm told to be." She said determinedly paling as little as she did so.  After a few moments Catalina didn't jerk away from the man hovering in front of her, flushing slightly as her mind took a detour and for a moment considered what kind of punishment he could inflict.

"The only way you get out of training is if I'm on a mission… Not that I'm going to be on any with me 'messed up'..." He grumbled the last bit, something that she wasn't supposed to hear. "Or if you're too injured or sick to train. In the case of that happening, you had BEST be in the hospital ward. Now. Go get a hot bath, bitch about my unfair attitude to people who might give a damn, and be in the archery room at 7 am, on the dot. Or earlier. Understood?"

"Understood." She tilted her head slightly as she watched him straighten, before standing up. "I'll see you in the morning, Hawk." Catalina said smiling slightly as she walked stiffly out of the room, not because she was angry, but she was sore. Not even realizing that she'd tagged him with a nickname, or that the action had caused both Frank and Clint to stare after her.


	2. Training Begins

Catalina turned her head slightly as she spun on her toes, arms moving as if she was drawing a bow, and even if she wasn't as aware of people around her as he was, she knew the moment Clint walked into the training room. After a few moments of watching her move, Clint realized what she was doing. Ballet. The dance moves translating into fighting stances, and even if they were rough, there was something to work with there.

"Good morning." Catalina said glancing at up him as he stepped into the room before stopping and turning to face him, flushed and ready to work.

"Continue." Clint ordered simply when she paused, not looking at her as he headed towards the small kitchenette that had been added because he spent so much time down there. "I haven't had my coffee yet and don't desire to see your face until I do." His voice was flat, he wasn't angry with her, he sounded tired – defeated. Which meant he'd dreamed of Natasha again last night, and while the girl looked, sounded, and acted nothing like Natasha, training her as he'd trained his best friend hurt.

"Oh, you're pleasant in the morning. Why don't you go get your coffee so you're fit to be with?" Catalina said snarkily, but her tone was gentle, not angry. Just like she knew he wasn't angry with her, she was willing not to question him on how he was, even if she knew he hadn't slept well. Everyone knew Clint Barton didn't sleep well anymore, but unlike some of the others, she was willing to overlook it unless it became unbearable. It wasn't cowardly or meek not wanting to piss him off, but because she had to work with him, and she'd rather have a relationship they could work together in, which meant finding the middle ground.

Clint watched as she danced, leaning back against the counter, sipping his coffee. While he ignored the snarky reply, he had to admit to himself he was glad she hadn't taken his words to heart. She seemed to not really care about him; he was just a means to an end, which made working with her easier.

Whilst he'd never tell her, it was impressive to see moves he'd only seen on stage twisted into a street brawlers move. One had to have a natural talent for both, had to know exactly what they were doing in both a fight and dance.

"Bring your shoulder up." He commented suddenly as she pretended to shoot another bow. "It'll give you more power." Amusement flaring through his eyes for a moment as she jumped, knowing that he might have gotten himself shot if she'd actually been holding a bow.

"Be careful of where you plant your feet, you must always be aware of your surroundings. Battle is always accompanied by rubble, and shrapnel, a misplaced step can result in a twisted ankle or something shoved through your foot."

"Now that's a mental image. Definitely going to keep a eye on the ground." Catalina said cracking an eye to look at him for a moment before twisting through another set of complicated moves.

"You have a natural talent for such a style." Clint admitted suddenly, offering no apology for his harsh words earlier. "It's rare to see dance incorporated into a proper fighting technique, but when employed properly you'll have a fighting style that no one can copy, and will be hard to defend against."

Catalina smiled slightly, "My mother was with the dance troupe in Moscow before she married my father. I learned early to dance and when I got older, I learned to fight." For a moment pain shot through her voice before it was hidden again. "I learned quickly, that it was easy to blur the line between dance and fighting." She smiled slightly as she stopped, panting somewhat before moving over next to him to get a glass of water.

"Russian ballet?" Clint asked, curious despite himself. Natasha had loved the ballet. Swallowing thickly against the emotions that it brought up he focused on the girl standing next to him again.

"Yeah. Before she moved to New York with my father." Catalina said in an off hand way as if she really wasn't paying attention to him as she focused on cooling off.

"In any case," he cleared his throat. Brushing the thoughts off, not wanting to think about Russia, because that inevitably made him think about Natasha. "You have the endurance needed for a short length fight, but some fights can last for hours, even days." He informed her as he poured himself another mug of coffee. "Right then." He muttered as he handed her schedule.

Catalina stared at him as she sipped her water, making a face at the sight of him drinking coffee, but didn't say anything. While she hated the crap, she didn't care what anyone else drank either. Taking the schedule from him she raised an eyebrow as she read it over:

6:00 - Morning habits  
6:30 - Breakfast  
7:00 - Endurance training (Outdoor track )  
9:00 - Sensory training (Archery room)  
10:00 - Meditative exercises (Archery room)  
10:30 - Free time, do whatever the hell you want  
11:00 -12:00 - Lunch  
12:00 - Archery practice (Archery room)  
13:00 - Strength training (Weights room)  
14:00 - Hand to hand training (Testing room)  
16:00 - End of training. Do whatever the hell you want so long as you go to bed at a decent hour so I don't have to drag your ass out of bed in the morning

Even his schedules had scathing commentary. It was a good thing Catalina didn't care what he said to her, otherwise the two were going to have issues, but as it stood, the woman was more likely to just meet him with an equally scathing retort.

"Once you get into 'the groove' of things, we'll be adding, or removing things from your schedule. For example, I'd suggest you spend at least a hour a day staying in to practice with your dancing forms. You might even consider finding a school around here to practice." He muttered. "I don't know jack shit about dancing, so you're mostly on your own there. I can only give you a few pointers here and there."

"I'll look into that. It's New York, surely there's a dance studio around." Catalina muttered looking thoughtful.

"Now. Onto the rest of your endurance training." He smirked at the blond standing next to him, "We're going to run until 8:45. Which is another hour and a half away." He grinned as they headed into the training room across the hall that had a indoor track. "Move it rookie!"

 

Catalina glared, panting as she stopped, scowling at the man running backwards in front of her, having listened for the last hour to him shouting the occasional order or encouragement. Straightening up from her crouch she swept out a leg to catch his, not at all surprised when the move didn't send him tumbling to the floor. Figuring he'd known she'd lash out the moment she got a chance, she glared at the man she was starting to hate as much as she liked.

"Прошлой неделе. На прошлой неделе. Дик присоски. На прошлой неделе поесть и умирают.ублюдок, "Витебского курьера" отказали." She snarled tiredly as she rested her hands on her knees, panting. Well, at least he knew she had a good handle on Russian...at least the cuss words.

Clint smirked at the woman in front of him, lifting an eyebrow. "Well then, obviously you're not to tired, if you can cuss me out. Come along. We have more work to do." He stated as he led her back into the archery room, completely ignoring her verbal tirade. Everyone he had ever trained did that eventually; it had taken Natasha a month to work up the guts to call him a 'sadistic fuckhead', and only an hour for Frank to call him a 'fucking psychotic shit-eating bastard.' Everyone cussed at him eventually; it was a good sign that she'd started so early.

"Now, we'll work on your senses." He stated holding up the black blindfold he picked up off the table. "This is obviously, a blindfold. It'll completely cut off all visual stimuli, leaving you literally blind. You'll wear it for an hour." He said handing it over to her before picking up a bow and passing it to her. It looked like a normal bow but with Styrofoam arrows. They had wooden shafts and the normal fletching, but the tips were soft and covered in blue powder.

"Now that's either a compliment or an insult. Thinking I can hit you with a real bow, or you don't want me shooting myself in the foot with one." She mused only because she wasn't certain she was going to be able to do this even as she tied the blindfold in place.

"I'm less concerned about you shooting yourself in the foot than I am you shooting your own eye out." He stated, snorting a little. "Whilst you're blindfolded I'll be moving about the room. If you manage to hit me, you'll get a half an hour reprieve from running tomorrow. You'll still have to run, but only for an hour and ten minutes, instead an hour and forty. "He smirked at her. "But that's only IF, you can hit me."

Once he was certain the blindfold and quiver were properly in place he moved out of her 'immediate awareness' zone, which was the distance where normal people lost the ability to sense him. He had to admit as she followed him with the bow, that she showed a remarkable awareness. Although she still had while to go before she reached his level of hyperawareness. It was either a result of training or an extensive childhood trauma. Given her chosen line of work, he'd lay money on some trauma being in her background, but he didn't care, as long as she worked. He was impressed with how close some of the arrows came though as he silently moved through the room, one nearly nailing him in the hip if he hadn't moved.

Cursing as she ran out of arrows without finding a mark, Catalina huffed out a sigh before she lowered the bow, turning her head this way and that, sensing the man around her. Holding the bow cross ways along her body, even without arrows the woman was using it as a defensive weapon, as if she expected him to attack her. "You're sadistic do you know that? You might want to seek help." She said shaking her head a little. While she wasn't nearly as brave as some of the others - namely Tony Stark - she also knew he didn't need coddling over Natasha's death, he'd hate it. Having dealt with other warriors, she wasn't going to treat him any different, at least until she figured out how to do so without getting him pissed, and making working together intolerable. As of now they were uncomfortable – but not horribly so.

"Why yes, I did know that, but thank you for the compliment. You're out of arrows did you know? So very easy to kill now. Helpless... You should never be without a way to defend yourself. You did at least keep hold of your bow. You can always gather arrows from the fallen, or weapons from the fallen."

"Never helpless, bow string can act like a garrote if I had to. Or the actual bow could act as a quarterstaff, they're strong enough to smack someone around with."She mused even as she turned her head, letting her body follow it around trying to keep track of him, not only by the sound of his voice but by the 'sound' of him moving around her.

"You also didn't drop any arrows, which is a damn sight better than the last two morons I had to train." He admitted still walking around, trying to distract her. "Can you believe one of them actually did manage to shoot himself in the foot?"

"That I can believe. Morons." She muttered, her voice sounding distant. Not really thinking about talking to him, not truly paying attention, as she focused on being ready for whatever else he was working up to.

"Enemies will sometimes do exactly what they do in the movies. Monologue. Where they go on and on – never shut up. This is a useful little period in time where you can start to plan your escape...or your defense. Have you prepared? No, I don't think you have."

Catalina yelped a little the bow raising as she felt a bop against her leg, scrambling back as the man was suddenly there, feeling his hip brush against hers as he bumped her off balance before he was gone again. "Too slow. You've been crippled. Focus! It's not just your hearing! You can feel me when I move, the air shifts. You can smell my soap and shampoo. You can hear my clothes as I move. Stop panicking." Clint ordered as he watched her scramble, barely avoiding it as she lashed out with the bow. While she wasn't hitting, she was actually making him work to stay away form her. "You're not helpless. You can't see, but you have other senses. You have a weapon, you always do. Your hands are deadly, your teeth can injure, use your body. Don't let me in close." He ordered giving her a moment to focus and then he was there, hassling her. Forcing her to be aware of the world around her.

When an hour past Clint smirked as he caught her arm in his hand, squeezing a little. "Stop." He ordered quietly, waiting until she stilled before letting go and tugging the blindfold off. The lights had been dimmed considerably so she wouldn't hurt her eyes. "Well at least you didn't shoot yourself."

Catalina blinked slowly, wincing even in the dim light. "But I didn't do great either." She said in response to his comment, looking annoyed with herself as much as she was with him.

"No, you didn't do great, but then, you've never fought blind either." He pointed out looking her over, holding up what he'd been batting her with – one of her practice arrows. Looking as close to laughter as he had been in months Clint looked over his chalk dusted trainee.

Tilting her head to concede the point she thought for a moment, remembering her schedule, "Now. I'm going over there and mediating on how I'm going to cause you some bodily and embarrassing harm and relax. Unless you have some other plans for your mediation time in the schedule?" She asked as she crossed the room to sit on the floor, looking comfortable and at ease despite being covered in chalk and looking sulky.

"Go for it. Mediate on whatever the hell you want. It's a cool down period where you can think about whatever you want. Later on I might give you specific things to mediate on. For now, just mediate on how you want to kick my ass." He ordered looking amused as he watched her for a moment before starting his own workout.

 

"I hear you're training the new archer?" Tony Stark said as he stepped out onto the balcony, a thread of concern in his voice despite the amusement showing on his face as he studied the man leaning against the railing. Whilst the billionaire was an arrogant ass, with forming the Avengers Clint had been accepted into the small group of people Tony actually cared for. And looking at his friend made Tony curse Fury for being a bastard and forcing Clint to train another woman as he had once trained Natasha. Having come to check on the man as soon as JARVIS had told him Clint was back in the tower, he wanted to know how the man was doing, and hoping the girl was strong enough to deal with Hawkeye.

Clint tilted his head slightly to look at the billionaire. Glad despite the man's attitude sometimes that he'd allowed him to move in. He couldn't bring himself to go home, because Natasha had lived with him. "Yea. She's not bad, needs lot of work though." Clint admitted, his voice listless and dull, because he knew the man wouldn't rat him out. Tony didn't care; Clint could trust Tony not to chastise him for being depressed.

"Well, you're good at getting the idiots to survive their training, I'm sure she'll be fine." Tony smirked a little, his eyebrows going up. "Is she as pretty as they say?" Tony asked, focusing on what he cared about, besides his friend. Since he knew Clint wouldn't want him to ask about how he was handling it he was going to ask what everyone expected him to care about, on how to get the new girl into bed.

"I don't know, didn't notice." Clint snorted a little, frowning as he tried to remember. Was she pretty? He supposed it didn't matter; it wasn't like she was going to be meeting Tony anytime soon. "Where's Cap tonight?"

"Avoiding you since you nearly killed him for taking your alcohol." Tony said simply before sighing quietly.

"Ah. Tell him I'm sorry will you? I was already pretty drunk." Clint said fidgeting a little as Tony nodded. People had always made him nervous, and without Natasha acting like a buffer, even people he liked made him skittish and unsure.

"I have a date with Pepper tonight... You want company?" Tony asked, willing to stay in for once if Clint wanted him to, but also willing to leave him alone. Like Catalina, the man had learned to bend to what Clint wanted him to do, because he wanted Clint to stay here, because he was afraid if he pushed, that the man would leave.

"No. I'm just going to get some sleep." Clint said waving Tony off, "Maybe smoke a few cigarettes in the bath." He muttered smirking. Well aware that Tony hated it when he smoked inside and had even gone so far as to install a specific air system to keep the smoke from 'infecting' the rest of the tower. Watching the metal man leave he smirked slightly, just thinking about what he was going to do with next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Russian translation for everything Catalina called Clint: Asshole. Shit sucker. Dick sucker. Eat shit and die. Bastard. Asshole. Sadist.)


	3. Reacting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, so I just realized a problem, and I don't think it's been happening on this site, but on my other account on fanfiction.net, this story has had parts dropped out of it, and while I think I got it fixed, I wanted to please ask you guys to let me know if it happens on here, as I do re-read them before I post them, but sometimes I see what is supposed to be there, instead of what really is. So I'd greatly appreciate it if you let me know if something's not making sense. ^^

Clint stretched as he stepped into the training room, toeing off his boots as he looked at the two already in the room before focusing on his trainee. He had to admit he was impressed with how well the girl had dealt with his moodiness. She didn't even bat an eye yesterday when he called her a 'good for nothing brat with illusions of adequacy.' She just ignored him and continued doing what she had been doing, which made his anger deflate like a popped balloon. It was no fun insulting someone who didn't get angry.

"We're going to spar. I know Frank has been teaching you some things, lets see you put them into practice."

Startling a little as he talked to her, Catalina turned her head away from the punching bag she'd been working on. Tilting her head slightly before unwrapping her hands and pulling off her boots.

"Okay." She said smiling slightly as she stepped onto the mats with him; surprised she hadn't sensed him coming closer before he'd spoke. While she was no where near his level after only two weeks in his company, the girl had developed an awareness of him, because she'd discovered Clint would surprise attack her if she wasn't.

"If I beat you, do I get to not run in the morning?" She asked optimistically as she raised her hands, watching him, waiting to see how he'd react to her, wanting to gauge just how serious he was about this. While she knew she had no chance of beating him, she said the words in an offhanded manner that suggested she knew talking could distract an opponent, even if she was paying more attention to her adversary than the words she was saying.

"Egotistical aren't you?" He asked amused. "There's no way you can beat me at your level, but for every hit you land, and I mean a real hit, I'll take five minutes off your run time." He promised.

"Nope. Just sure you suck that much." Catalina smirked because she knew it was a lie. He was going to kick her ass.

Clint rolled his eyes a little, aware that she wasn't going to land a whole lot of hits; despite the taunts they were trading. Even though he wasn't used to fighting against someone who used a mixture of dance and martial arts, Clint slid with her movements.

He was careful, more playful this time as he moved with her, taunting her almost. He never noticed when she stopped being Catalina, turning into Natasha, her smiling wicked eyes taunting him into getting more serious. Grabbing her arm he twisted, expecting Natasha to twist with him, not fight against him, feeling ice cold terror slipping through his veins as he heard something snap and heard the breathless scream as the woman collapsed, felt the strike against his thigh as she lashed out. 

"what?Nat..." He stumbled to his feet fleeing just as Frank ran across the room to the fallen Catalina.

"I don't think it's broken." Frank said after a few moments of gently sliding his fingers along her shoulder, biting his lip. He was worried about Clint, but it was Catalina who was hurt right now, and he had to see to her before he could see to the emotionally compromised man. "Let's get you to the hospital..."

"He dislocated it..." Catalina said through clenched teeth, stumbling to her feet, even blind with pain she knew Clint needed looking after more then she did. "Go after him. I'm capable of getting to the hospital wing."

Frank hesitated a moment before nodding, "Take care of yourself." He ordered, knowing Clint wouldn't forgive him if Catalina got even more hurt.

"Go. I'll be fine."

 

"I called Tony and sent Clint back to Stark tower. He's about the only one who can get Clint to talk these days." Frank admitted as he watched the girl walking down the hall, studying her. Glad to see that even if she was wearing a sling, there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with the woman. "Cat... Do you understand what happened? He called you Natasha. He didn't mean to hurt you, he feels God awful about it...He was trying to convince Fury that he was dangerous and needed to be locked up, but Fury wouldn't do it."

"I know. He really didn't understand what he'd done, at least not until he dislocated my shoulder. He's more a danger to himself."

"He's having a mental breakdown... I could kill Fury for doing this to him. Everyone told him Clint wasn't ready to take on another apprentice, least of all one that sounds slightly like Natasha... No offense, but you speak English with a Russian twinge to it."

"My mother was Russian."

"That explains it." Frank sighed, knowing that she couldn't help it. Even if she hadn't grown up in Russia, the girl had learned to speak around a woman who had, and though she sounded American, the girl spoke some words like a Russian. "I know Fury thought it would help, but all he did was fuck up...I don't know if Clint can recover from this. He's having hallucinations for fuck's sake." He sighed, shaking his head a little, "I'll take over your training for now, I think it would be best if Clint was left with Tony for a few days."

Catalina frowned slightly, reaching up to rub at her throbbing shoulder, disappointed but accepting. "I'll see you as soon as I'm released to start training again. Goodnight Frank." She said as she walked back to her rooms, trying not to think about what could be going on in Stark tower.

 

Catalina frowned slightly as she leaned back against the wall of the elevator. Wondering what could have caused even Tony Stark's tolerance and frustration to snap. Shifting her shoulder a little she hissed out a breath between her teeth as she stepped onto Clint's floor, glancing around the apartment. The lower level was a huge living room, the simple black couch and coffee table taking up most of the room. The open plan design lead straight into the kitchen that housed a small table and chairs. Yet the truly amusing sight was the loft area, what Tony liked to call Clint's 'nest', the balcony room that had no stairs and no railing, but just a rope ladder and a sheer drop to the living room below.

"Don't make me climb up there, Hawk. It'll be painful for both of us, cause I'll kick your ass afterwards." She said, her voice holding the usual biting tease, despite the layer of worry underneath.

"Natasha?" Clint shifted as he leaned over the edge of the loft, squinting a little, glassy eyed, completely drunk. "...You're not Nat! Go away. Filthy woman.Whore.”" He hissed, crawling back under his blankets, the sound of sloshing liquid could be heard in the quiet of the apartment. Well, at least he could tell the difference between her and Natasha again.

"You fucking pain in the ass." Catalina growled sounding both worried and annoyed as she slid her arm out of her sling, frowning slightly as she moved her arm, making sure she really could use it. Yelping slightly as the vodka bottle smashed into the ground near her before frowning up at the man she couldn't see.

Snarling to herself the whole way up the rope, she swallowed hard as the ladder swayed under her weight, rolling awkwardly onto the landing edge. Lying there for a few moments she sighed, raising her head to look at Clint. "You are a hard man to be pissed at, but I think I can manage." She said, the tone gentle even if she was goading him.

"I'm not a hard man...I'm a teddy bear..."He slurred as he looked at her watching her as she moved around the spacious landing. While it wasn't the conventional bedroom, it was after all Stark Tower, and had enough room to fit a small plane into the main living space, with both a small fridge and table along with the bedroom area. 

"Eat."She ordered as she stole the alcohol bottle he was holding, and handing him a plate. Ignoring him as she moved around, dumping the rest of his alcohol bottles over the edge of the nest, smirking slightly as the bottles smashed to the floor. Tony had said that he didn't care how much of a mess she made, so she might as well try his patience.

"No!Give it back."Clint complained, before staggering to his feet, "I'm gonna push you out of my nest."He growled, taking a few sloppy swings at her before collapsing back onto the bed, groaning and pathetic. Watching her throw the last few bottles he whimpered moving to the edge of the nest, looking down. "You killed my vodka..."He accused, struggling furiously not to cry. A part of him knew he was being ridiculous, but he was drunk, and he kept seeing Natasha, and his trainee was being a bitch...

"So I did."Catalina said grinding her teeth to keep from laughing out loud at the look on his face. 

Eating toast she'd given him, Clint frowned at her, grumbling and unhappy, starting to sober up a little as he collapsed back into the bed and laying down. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that shit up here!?"

"No hard. Considering I can see the rope you used to haul it up here. Climbing up here with a screwed up shoulder was harder. Now stop being a whiny bitch."Catalina growled as she eyed the food around her, snorting at the sight. It was obvious who'd done the shopping, as there was a case of ramen, booze, and a few bottles of water. Clint definitely had no idea how to do his own shopping. "no wonder you can't get up. You're going to a proper waste eating this shit."

"It's delicious. Leave me alone. I had ramen."Clint complained, yanking the covers over his head. "You killed my vodka and now you're being annoying. Just go away."

Catalina frowned tilting her head a little as she watched the man get comfortable, rolling her eyes as she settled onto the bean bag chair he had, rubbing her shoulder absently as she picked up one of the weapons magazines he had, reading. Having every intention of hanging out until he sobered up. 

 

"...If you're not Stark, get the fuck out of my room...if you are Stark, bring me more booze..."Clint ordered as he woke with a loud groan, signifying that yes, he was sober, if only because his head and stomach were killing him, with a hell of a hangover. "and food...Ramen is bad for me...maybe...someone said so...and someone else...they killed my vodka...they killed my vodka. Remind me to have them tortured. Get out"

"You are quite the nerd, did you know?" Catalina said ignoring the order to get out as she looked through the huge binder of magic cards, having gotten bored with the magazines when she'd realized that they were older than five years. It seemed her partner was something of a pack rat. Keeping her voice low, knowing the man had to have a killer headache. "Definitely not Tony. Though you could have warned me just how much of a flirting narcissist he really is." She added with an eye roll, because while he had flirted for a few minutes, she knew if he hadn't been as worried as he was, Tony Stark would have been much worse a flirt.

"Don't touch my magic cards! You'll get your germs and nasty sticky child shit all over them." He barked, wincing as he made his own headache worse. Burrowing deeper into the blankets he sighed.

"I am not a child!" Catalina sputtered, though 5 years his junior at 23, the woman wasn't a child. Snickering as he burrowed deeper into the blankets she set aside the book of cards to look at him. "There's bread and some ginger ale sitting on the floor next to you."

"Why are you here? Go away damn you; I want to be miserable in peace. Go flirt with Tony. Consider it a training exercise."

"That would require climbing down, and it hurt getting up here. I have no desire to get down yet."

"And you are a child. A snot nosed, spoiled brat of a girl... I could always shove you off. You probably wouldn't die, but it would hurt like a bitch." He muttered before frowning. "Why did it hurt? Oh, that's right...I'm sorry. I must have hurt you pretty badly. It's just...I could have sworn..." He started, before falling silent, not wanting to talk anymore. He'd apologized, that was enough right?

"Well you're no more pleasant hung over than you are sober, old man." She said making a face at him before shrugging. "Dislocated it." She informed him, accepting the apology without saying anything more.

"I'm never pleasant. Go jump off a bridge." Clint winced, sighing softly as he ate his toast, but without a word tipped the ginger ale over, smirking as someone at the bottom starting cursing.

"God Clint! Was that necessary?! Look at this mess." Steve Rogers scowled as he looked around him, pushing his wet bangs out of his face.

"Shut up. She killed my vodka!"

"She?" Steve said sounding startled.

"Yes, she, my trainee who's too much of a card slut to stay away from my things!"

"Clint that made no sense. I'm coming up."

"I'm cutting down the rope ladder!" Clint stated reaching around for one of his knives frowning when he couldn't find one.

Catalina looked startled, tilting her head as she realized that Captain America was at the bottom of the ladder. Looking amused as she leaned carefully over the edge of the nest, she smiled at the other blond at the bottom. "I wouldn't come up. He's serious. Probably cut the rope while you're on it. The sadistic brute that he is."

Steve looked up at the blond woman looking down at him, surprised that there was actually someone else up there with him. "Is he alright? Tony was afraid he'd manage to drown himself or something..."Steve lied, he'd been worried, but didn't want to admit it.

"Hmm, he's pissed I'm up here, and that I killed his vodka. I figured we've made progress. I might even convince him that Ramen and leftover Chinese is bad for him." She said looking amused because she was well aware Tony wasn't the one who had been worried; after all, she was here at Tony's request, why would he ask Steve to check on them, when he could have just asked Jarvis?

"You're the one that tossed his booze? He nearly gutted me when I tried."

"I am. He was drunk when I did it, and nearly fell on his ass trying to stop me." Catalina snorted laughing.

"That's sad, in so many ways."

"It is." Catalina agreed.

"Wait. That's what he's been living on? Booze, Chinese and Ramen?" Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, annoyed that none of them had   
realized Clint was incapable of taking care of himself. Clint could clean, but he couldn't cook, he didn't really know how to shop and spent most of his money on magic cards and alcohol, along with weapons of course.

"It is. It's fairly gross."

"I'll go get him some groceries. Something even he can cook."

"I hate you all." Clint voiced from below the covers where he was hiding once again.

Catalina rolled her eyes at Clint's words, "Fruit would be amazing. Nothing particular, just something." She said looking amused before glancing at the   
mound of blankets that was Clint. "I'm going to take a nap Cap."

"Okay. I'll be back soon." Steve said smiling as he left, content in the knowledge that Clint was being taken care of.

Waving goodbye Catalina smiled slightly as she moved to sit down on the bed, poking Clint on the shoulder. "Hey, featherhead. Can I lay down and nap?"

"No! Go find your own damn bed. This one's mine." Clint growled, yet he slid over to let her lay down. The poor idiot, he didn't want her there, but he didn't want to be alone either. He wanted to be miserable, and yet he wanted to be comforted. Having a new trainee was causing so many conflicting emotions.


	4. The one where tony can't flirt

Clint groaned as Steve walked in, calling out that he had groceries. Frowning slightly Clint took in how he had been sleeping, his gaze drifting down to the blond sleeping against him. It seemed while he'd been sleeping he'd adopted a position he had often used with Natasha when they'd had nightmares. He had curled his taller body around hers, chest against her back, forehead resting against the shorter woman's head, an arm slung loosely over her stomach. A comforting position he had desperately missed, although Catalina seemed to fit better against him than the taller Natasha had. Despite being somewhat surprised, he was relaxed and for once he hadn't dreamt of Natasha.

Shifting so he could prop himself up on an elbow he leaned across Catalina, grabbing one of the Ramen packages and hurling it over the edge. Amused as Steve cursed as he was hit. Ramen was light, and not that dangerous, but even dry noodles would smart if they were thrown fast and hard enough at you.

"Hawk?" Catalina muttered as she woke, frowning slightly. Not pulling away from him, unsure if he knew who she was, or if he was pretending she was Natasha, and not wanting to startle him if he didn't.

"What? Shut up trainee, I'm sleeping." Clint ordered as he listened to Steve cursing as he started to scramble up the ladder, smiling slightly as the woman relaxed against him. Smirking to himself he reached over, undoing the simple brace that held the ropes into place, grinning when Steve hit the floor after barely making it a foot up.

"You bastard! Clint! Let me up there right now! Some of this shit is frozen and is going to melt and go bad."

"Throw it in the damned fridge and go away." Clint demanded even as he pulled out one of the spare ropes, and reattached it before tossing it down to Steve.

"I'm not the one being loud. Now play nicely children, I'm going back to sleep." Catalina ordered as she listened to them argue, shifting around until all that was visible was the top of her head as she snuggled down into the bed.

Clint huffed a little as he glared at her, reaching down to yank the covers off her as he sat up. If he wasn't allowed sleep, neither was she. Ignoring her glower as she stared at him, Clint shifted over to watch Steve come up, stealing an apple as Steve put the stuff away.

"Fuck Clint, can't you find a safer way to get up here? Like, I dunno, a staircase, or better yet, maybe sleep on the ground?"

"No." Clint stated with a scowl as he complained about not needing all that food, or that he didn't want 'crap like that'. Which was mostly the vegetables, fruit, juice, milk, eggs...most of the good stuff. He managed to not complain about the toaster waffles or ice cream though. Eating one of the waffles even as he checked his magic cards over to make sure Catalina hadn't messed with them. They were all carefully placed in collector's books, so he didn't think it would be too bad, but he was still relieved to see that she hadn't removed or moved the cards around.

"You're such a nerd..." Steve muttered, laughing when he was flipped off. "Don't look so worried, I didn't do anything to them." Catalina grumbled watching him look over his cards.

"You might have." Clint stated, eyes narrowing as he looked at the woman lying in his bed. "You touched my things, I have to disinfect them."

"Oh, for God's sake, I didn't touch anything but the covers. Your cards are safe."

Clint sneered at the woman, carefully wiping down the pages. He hadn't even let Natasha touch his cards, why would he let his brat of a trainee touch anything? Tilting his head slightly he opened his mouth to answer before looking towards the edge as he heard someone moving around.

"Is it safe to come up? I mean, he hasn't thrown either of you out yet, so I'm going to assume it is." Tony's voice said from down on the ground level, not bothering to wait for an answer before he started to climb the ladder. A flirty smirk played on his lips at the sight of the beautiful blonde already in bed; her hair sleep tousled and mused. He couldn't help himself, even though it was more reflex than actually wanting her. Tony was worried enough about Clint – casual flirting wasn't top priority. "Hey nerd, are you sober and ready to get back to work?"

"Flirt with my trainee, Stark, and I'll cut you." Clint warned, looking around for a knife before scowling as he realized that it hadn't been a mistake earlier, his weapons really were missing. "What the hell did you do with my weapons, Tony?!"

He knew it hadn't been Catalina, she'd know better then to leave an assassin without a weapon, and it wasn't Steve because he wasn't that stupid. Only Tony Stark would be so utterly reckless and disarm him when he was drunk. It cast some serious doubts over the man's intelligence.

"Why do you assume it was me? It could have been your trainee."

"I'm not that stupid. He was already going to be pissed I killed his vodka, no reason to take his weapons." Catalina said raising her eyebrows a little.

"I forgot about that. I knew there was a reason I didn't want you touching my things." Clint grumbled.

"He never lets anyone touch his cards... I tried once, just to look and nearly lost the hand. I don't think..." Steve tailed off, his face pained for a moment: 'I don't think Natasha touched them even' going unsaid. Studying the awkward look on Catalina's face he smiled slightly. "Hey he let you touch them. That's a good thing, he might be fussing now, but he didn't stop you either."

"True." Catalina muttered frowning slightly.

"Though, you do know he's going to punish you for ruining his vodka, you know that right? Probably make you run for hours."

"Fuck." Catalina cursed quietly.

"They're all down there. Which you would know, if you ever left the nest, not that I blame you with her sitting in your bed." Tony said, ignoring the two having a conversation.

"Stark, he said not to flirt."Catalina said, though she looked more amused then annoyed, distracted from her conversation with Steve.

"He should have known that wouldn't work, especially since he's not armed yet." Tony made a face, tilting his head a little. "I just came up to tell you me and Pepper are going out for the evening, so don't go burning down the place while I'm gone."

"I don't need to be armed to hurt you Tony." Clint hissed looking irritated. "And you aren't wearing your fancy bracelets, so you can't get suited up by the time I start to pummel you. Now leave, before I push you off." Clint said, not bothering to wait for an answer as he moved to the edge of the nest and dropped, catching the rope hanging on the edge and sliding down.

"Jesus Clint, I thought we were going to have to call the ambulance." Steve cursed as they followed him down. Amusement colouring Captain America's face as he listened to Tony complain about stupid birdbrained stunts as they left, leaving the teacher and trainee alone together, both men having gotten what they came for – reassurance that Clint was recovering.

Catalina smiled slightly as she got to the floor glancing around her, amused as she saw the pile of weapons stacked on the coffee table, standing stiffly a moment before sighing she shifted awkwardly. She'd done what Tony had asked her to do, gotten Clint sober and responding to people again. They didn't need her for anything else. Running her fingers through her blond hair she smiled sadly. "Well... I'll see you later. I probably should get back."

Clint spun away from the pile of weapons he'd been inspecting to make sure Tony hadn't messed them up to look at her. "Don't leave!" He growled as he grabbed her wrist, his voice almost panicked.

Catalina jumped slightly as he grabbed her, moving to hit him before she stopped the instinctive reaction, dropping her hand even as he let go of her wrist. "Well... I guess being in Stark Tower is better then my apartment." She said simply, overlooking the weakness he'd revealed in not wanting to be alone. "I assume there's an indoor pool? Frank said swimming would be better than fighting to get my shoulder back into working order, less strain on the muscles or something... I stopped listening after he told me swimming was good."

Clint swallowed hard, watching her recover, fighting back the urge to apologize for frightening her. "I dunno actually. I've never been anywhere but here and the labs downstairs." He admitted with a shrug.

"You poor boring man. You need to do more stuff besides drinking and working. He has a tower for his personal entertainment!"

"Hey Jarvis!"

"Yes Master Clint?"

Clint smirked a little as Catalina jumped at the posh British accent. "Does Tony have a pool?"

"Yes, Master Clint. There's a pool on the fifth, twelve, and forty-fifth floors. Are you wishing to do an experiment?"

"No. Just to swim."

"Then you will be wanting the pool on the forty-fifth floor. Shall I arrange for swimming clothes to be delivered?"

"Yes. Thanks Jarvis." He said as he headed for the elevator smirking a little. "Startled?"

"Hmm. That was creepy. Sort of. Weird computer thing..." Catalina said making a face.

Clint grinned a little before hitting the button for the elevator and stepping in. "Come on then. The sooner we get your arm back up to shape, the sooner I can torment you."

"You say that like some men say they're looking forward to a date. You shouldn't sound so excited, sadist." She said rolling her eyes before looking around her as the elevator stopped, staring at the Olympic sized pool. "I'll be back." She said looking amused as she headed into the locker room staring at the swimsuit that had been left out for her. Blushing as she changed into the itty bitty blue bikini. But she figured she was lucky to get a swimsuit at all, since Tony most probably liked his women in nothing at all. Sighing softly as she headed back out to the pool, eyes widening as she looked at what Clint was wearing.

"Don't you dare laugh." Clint glared at Catalina, who was starting to go red in the face from the effort of trying not to laugh at him.

Catalina smiled slowly, careful so as not to lose control, as she looked the man over. While he was scarred, and that wasn't really surprising considering what he did for a living, it wasn't ugly. Not the way you would have expected. The wounds had healed well, leaving their mark and adding mystery. But what really had her attention at the moment were the swimshorts. "You look good in kittens." She said snickering at the cute baby cats on his trunks.

"Shut up, trainee, and get working."Clint glared, sulking, not that he'd ever admit that he was sulking, as he slipped into the pool.

 

 

Clint studied the woman moving through his apartment, a slight frown on his face as he looked at his place. The couch, TV stand, and coffee table had been shoved towards the wall with the sole purpose of giving Catalina more room to work out in. Two weeks had passed since she'd gotten here, and while they hadn't discussed it, Clint had discovered that Tony had given her her own suite of rooms. Even if she didn't spend any time in them, preferring to be in his easier to work out in, roomier apartment, instead of her own standard set up guest rooms.

Watching her as she ate breakfast Clint thought about the woman he'd grown to know, despite having tried very hard to not know anything about her. He knew that she slept as badly as he did. Driven out of bed more than once by his own nightmares, he'd found his trainee outside on the balcony, despite the freezing New York winter. She could slip into dance moves so easily during a fight that he knew she'd started young, the habits so engrained that it was second nature to lash out. He knew she hated coffee, but loved orange juice first thing in the morning. He knew her favorite music to working out to was Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty waltz.

He knew that she enjoyed spending time with him, and easily answered his sarcasm with even more sarcasm. He knew that despite her worry about sponging off Tony and using his money to buy small things for her room, she was secretly pleased to have a place that was solely hers. As he had found out she had to share an apartment with another agent and he sensed she'd never really had a place to call her own. He knew that talking to Steve got her tongue tied in ways that talking to the other Avengers didn't, and it amused him to watch her sort out what she wanted to say. He knew she was intelligent and kind enough to not make Thor feel stupid when she explained Midgardian things to him.

What he didn't know was why he was starting to care if she stayed.


	5. parties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I've been updating on fanfic.net, and totally forgot to put it up here. Only good thing, you're going to get a lot of chapters all at once to catch up. ^^

Catalina sipped her orange juice as she read weapons monthly, glancing up at Tony as he walked into the kitchen. While him and pepper had their own kitchen, Tony and Steve usually ate breakfast down here in Clint's, because Pepper had to be at the Stark Industries before Tony even considered crawling out of bed. "Morning."

"Morning beautiful."Tony smiled a little as he looked at the blond girl. While he was married, him and pepper had a open relationship that left most people scratching their heads in confusion. Yet, it worked for the two of them, so he didn't try to explain to any of the curious people who always asked how his marriage worked. Getting himself some waffles and coffee he settled on a barstool across from her, smirking. "My birthday's today."

"I know. You haven't stopped talking about it for weeks."

"Come as my date, Pepper has to go out of town on business today, so I don't have a date for the party tonight."He asked, though he'd known Pepper was leaving on business for awhile, he'd put off asking Catalina, not wanting to give either her or Clint time to actually think it through to much.

"What?"Catalina frowned looking up at the billionaire across from her, looking confused. While she knew about his open marriage, this was definitely not something she'd considered before. That she'd be high on his list to actually try and date. "...Okay."

Tony grinned,"Cool."he said looking amused as he glanced at Clint as the man stumbled into the kitchen, looking grouchy and tired as he walked.

Scrubbing his face furiously Clint sighed a little, before pausing, tilting his head a little. "....Orange...."Clint said simply blinking at 'Natasha'. Having every intention of ignoring the Russian delusion until she turned back into his trainee. While it was a pain in the ass, they'd developed a way of working together when he did have a episode.

"..Cat, did Clint just call you a orange?"Steve said as he walked into the room, looking baffled.

"Shut up."Catalina growled softly at Steve, for once her usual nervousness at talking to captain America, shoved aside as she focused on the assassin in front of her. Despite having heard the safe word that said Clint was seeing Natasha, the woman didn't want to leave him with Steve and Tony, knowing if the two managed to startle Clint, it could lead to a all day meltdown. 

Steve stopped, looking shocked for a moment at the other's scolding, before watching Catalina move closer to Clint, realizing that she was doing something specific. 

"Nat, you want some?"Clint asked, to sleepy to remember that he was supposed to completely ignore Natasha when he saw her. 

"Hey. You know I dislike coffee, Hawk. Remember, you made me run last week for dumping it in your lap, and telling you that the sludge was going to get you killed."Catalina said as she walked to the fridge, moving slowly in a effort to not startle him to badly. She knew she was going to get yelled at as soon as Clint realized she hadn't left the moment he told her to, but she wasn't leaving him either. "How about we both have some, Hawk."Catalina added as she held out a bottle towards him.

Clint frowned slightly as he held his glass of coffee, looking confused. Natasha loved coffee, was more obsessed with it then he was. "...Ugh. I hate orange juice."Clint complained as he took the small bottle of orange juice from Catalina, blinking as the image of Natasha shattered, because Catalina liked orange juice, not Natasha. Only Catalina called him hawk, which just cemented it even more that this was Catalina. "Sorry Cat."He muttered after a moment looking away. "It was a bad night..."

"You okay?"Tony muttered watching the scene from his barstool, looking both concerned and curious.

"I'm alright. I am."He promised, not even noticing as Steve slipped silently out of the room. The good captain not drawing attention to himself as he knew Clint wouldn't want him to know. Clint trusted Tony and Catalina, but he didn't want Steve or Fury to know since he wouldn't be allowed to work, and Steve, who had his own personal issues, knew what it was to need to work to distract oneself. 

Tony smiled slightly, looking at Clint before smiling slightly. Willing to overlook the episode for the moment, because he knew Clint wouldn't want to talk about it, but having every intention of making sure Jarvis recorded and told him how often it happened. "Good. Because you still have to come to my party tonight."

"Dammit, I have to find a dress."Catalina sulked for a moment as she sat back down, grabbing one of the apples out of the bowl on the table, before giving Clint a hopeful look. "Tell him I'm to busy with training to go shopping."

"I think it would be best to cancel training today."Clint said without thinking it through, wincing a little because he knew if he tried to train her now, he'd just have another episode. Wincing again as he saw the look Catalina was giving him.

"Good. Now you have to go get your own dress. Don't think you're going to get out of this."

"Wasn't trying to. After all, who could turn down going on a date with the birthday boy?"Catalina teased rolling her eyes as she flipped through the magazine in front of her. Trying to not think about how bad the hallucinations were getting, because she was scared that there might be one day she couldn't reach him.

"...I'm going out."Clint said pushing his plate of food away before standing, not noticing the two staring after him. 

~~**~~

Catalina smiled as she looked at her reflection in the spotless steel doors of the elevator, glancing at the man standing at her side. "I look ridiculous."She said fidgeting with the lace sleeves of her dress, looking it over in the metal mirror.

"No, you look beautiful."Tony said smirking a little, looking at the dress made up of more lace then solid covering, looking at the toned and lean body that was showcased by so much lace. It was a tantalizing glimpse of flesh, covering her where it needed, and coming to just her knees, with high heels that put her nearly as tall as him. In a bright sky blue, with her hair done up into a complex knot, the woman looked more like a wealthy socialite then a SHIELD agent. 

"You think every woman looks beautiful."Catalina scowled a little.

"Because they usually are, it doesn't make it any less true in your case."Tony muttered resting his hand on her back, gently guiding her out of the elevator as it stopped at top of Stark tower. "Don't worry. Just because Barton didn't want to come, doesn't mean something's wrong. Just enjoy tonight."Tony said smiling as he brushed a kiss over her cheek, leading her into the waiting crowd.

~~**~~

"Hawk!How are you?"Catalina slurred as she pulled away from tony, breaking the kiss as she leaned on Tony's arm, laughing as she looked at the man staring at her. Both partygoers stumbling out of the elevator, forcing Clint to take a step back as he sorted out what he was seeing. 

"Get your hands off her!"Clint snarled, leaping for the billionaire. Fighting even as Catalina got between them, wincing as her fist found his ribs. The three to drunk to be sensible, and it was only when Bruce and Steve arrived that Catalina stepped out of the way, wincing as she supported Tony as the man slumped to the floor. Already working on binding the wounds, cursing Clint for being so very good at what he did, for it meant he'd inflicted alot of harm in a short amount of time.

Meanwhile Steve and Bruce were binding the assassin up with zip ties, still yelling at Tony to keep his hands off Natasha...and Catalina. The woman flipping through the images of Catalina and Natasha to quickly for the man to get any bearings.

When they got to the SHIELD private hospital, Steve stopped as they wheeled both Tony and Clint inside, Steve stopped to look at the girl who for a moment, looked at a total loss for what to do. "Cat?You okay, you're not hurt are you?"

Catalina startled a little, turning to look at Steve, frowning as she looked down at herself. The beautiful-expensive- dress was torn, bruises already starting to rise on lightly tan skin. "Huh? I'm fine."She said running her fingers through her hair, sighing quietly as they headed inside. Not looking forward to doing a bedside vigil, not knowing what to expect. 

"He's bad isn't he?I didn't realize...I mean...he's worse then we thought."Steve said. "he's going to be pulled off duty completely because of this...I don't know if he can handle it..."

"He is."Catalina whispered sighing softly before moving towards the door, already stepping inside.

"You staying with Clint?"Steve asked, watching her, and at her nod he headed for Tony's room, wanting to see how the billionaire was doing.

"Hawk?"Catalina asked quietly as she stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her as she sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Clint groaned as he fought the drugs they'd given him, blinking stupidly. "He touched you...you're mine....he touched you...I'll kill him..."Clint slurred stupidly as he yanked at the electronic lock cuffs that were made specially for him, since he couldn't squirm free or pick the locks. He was truly stuck until he was let go. Not even really aware of why he angry with Tony for kissing her, just knowing that he didn't want the married idiot anywhere near a woman young enough to have romantic thoughts about Tony even if she was aware he was married. "Cat...Nat...No...I have to save you...Tony is bad..Can't let him..."

Catalina winced as she gently brushed his hair off his forehead, sighing softly. "Relax Hawk. Tony's not doing anything with me. I promise."Catalina reassure looking away from him to keep him from seeing the tears that were filling his eyes. Not wanting to acknowledge the feelings that were breaking her heart with the knowledge that he didn't mean she was his in any romantic sense. She knew it was a stupid idea to like the man training her, but she'd done it. Fallen for him without even realizing it.

"No...he touched you...saw it...He kissed Cat...can't let him...have to..."Clint muttered relaxing, completely delusional with the drugs in his system, "..Nat I'm sorry...don't hate me...I'm sorry..."

"Shh, hawk, she doesn't hate you. Just rest."Catalina muttered as she watched Clint slump back into the bed asleep.

~~**~~

"Fury's angry."Frank said as he stepped inside, making sure Clint was sleeping before starting to talk to the woman sitting in the chair."Not at Clint though, or at you. I guess Fury didn't realize that no one told Clint that he was supposed to be seeing a therapist. No one is in trouble for this, but Clint's off duty indefinitely now. Fury wants your opinion on things before he makes a decision what to do...Several people want Clint institutionalized, claiming he's to dangerous..."Frank said watching the woman's face, smiling slightly at the dark, angry look on her face. He knew that look, knew that the moment someone tried to commit Clint permanently, both Clint and Catalina would be gone, disappearing with the training SHIELD had taught them. 

"I don't think that would help him though. He trusts you. I know that much. Do you think you could try to get him to see a therapist?If he can get help, maybe he wont have to be institutionalized."Frank added sighing softly.

"He trusts me, because he trusts Natasha. It's nothing I did to earn his trust."Catalina said sighing quietly."But I'll try."

"Catalina Santana, you know better then that."Frank scolded, looking down at the younger trainee. "He doesn't trust you because he thinks you're Natasha sometimes. For fuck's sake, he got confused three weeks ago and thought Agent Hill was Natasha because she was wearing the same perfume. He spends the most time with you, and your accent triggers it, that's all. He trusts you outside of his episodes, or did you not notice he lets you bring him drinks? He's never let me bring him something to drink, he's afraid I'll poison it or something. He trusts YOU, Catalina, and you're his only hope right now."

Catalina smiled sadly at the other's words as she watched Clint sleep, because she knew that. Having been alone in the knowledge that Clint was this far gone, had isolated her from being able to see how much good she was doing. "Well, I guess being allowed to sleep in his bed gives me the right to bring him drinks."She said the words out of her mouth before she'd considered how they could be taken. While she did share a bed with Clint, it was for sleep, not sex. 

Frank stared at her for a moment with wide eyes before realizing what she meant. She meant literally sleeping. Studying the sleeping man, he figured it helped Clint's nightmares to snuggle up to someone, but still. If Clint was paranoid about his drinks, he couldn't imagine how the man was about who he slept with.

"I need some clothes, if I'm going to go see Fury."Catalina said gesturing to the torn dress she was still wearing.

"I'll get you something, and grab Steve. He can stay with Clint."Frank said as he left the room, returning in a few minutes with the simple jeans and T-shirts one of the clinic staff had had on hand. "Here. I already called Fury, and told him we were on our way."

Catalina nodded slightly as she took the clothes changing before following the other man out. Quiet the whole time on their way to the office, the woman was trying to figure out what to say. Watching Frank leave her alone with Fury, the woman turned to look at Fury sighing quietly.

"Agent Santana, I want your report."Fury stated, watching the woman.

"...He wont survive being institutionalized."Catalina said before settling into a chair, spilling everything that had happened in the weeks since she'd become Clint's trainee, before running her fingers through her hair. "He's grieving, director. While its not a normal form of grieving...whatever he went through...it changed him."She sighed, she didn't know anything about Clint's past, but this wasn't normal. So she assumed something had changed how Clint dealt with things fundamentally. "He just needs time. It would be good to have things as close to normal as he can get....which includes staying at Stark tower... if Tony will let him...."She shrugged helplessly.

"I never realized he was that bad...I knew there was a few incidents where he mistook people for Natasha, but I had thought them isolated, random..."Fury admitted rubbing his fingers against his temple like he was striving to offset a headache. 

Catalina flinched a little, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry director, I should have told you...but if he had found out, I would have lost his trust, it was the only thing keeping him together. I thought....we could handle it."

"I can understand why you did it, I'm not happy about it, but I can understand it."Fury was quiet for a moment before focusing on the younger woman in front of him again."I don't think he's grieving. I think he's locked it all in his head, and this last moment, was to much."He sighed quietly. "I agree though. We can't have him institutionalized. He would never survive such a thing. Oh, he'd be fine physically, they wouldn't let him kill himself. Yet he'd die emotionally. He'd become a soulless husk, I'm more worried about him as a person."Fury admitted before looking at her, offering a small smirk. "I'll deny it if you ever say anything like that of course."

"Don't worry, if I ever tried to tell someone that you cared more about him as a person then a agent, they wouldn't believe me."She pointed out.

"Damn right they wouldn't believe you. I've cultivated my image ruthlessly."He stated with a smirk before growing serious. "If stark kicks Clint out, and I wouldn't really blame Tony if he did, then I'll have a home set up for you two, where Frank will frequent also. I will also get the number of a therapist who specializes in such things, and it will be your job to get him to go and cooperate."

"I'll talk to Tony when I get back, and let you know."She said looking worried because she had checked to see about the man's condition before coming up here. 4 broken ribs, a fractured shin bone, and a broken nose. While it wasn't the most life threatening injuries, they were definitely painful. Given his physical state, she really was worried Tony would kick him out.

"I'll also check in every few days, the last thing we need is a repeat...if there is a repeat...I wont have a choice, you understand don't you?"He demanded.

"I do."Catalina swallowed hard, nodding her goodbye as she headed for the door.

~~**~~

"How are you feeling?"Catalina said smiling softly as she realized Clint was awake when she walked into his room. While the injuries she suffered wasn't nearly as severe as Tony's as Clint hadn't been trying to hurt her, he'd still rung her bell pretty well when she'd gotten in the middle of the fight. Glad that the bruises that he'd given her were easily hidden, not wanting to upset him more .Settling into the seat next to the bed she watched him.

"...I feel like I just tried to murder my friend...I tried to kill Tony because he..."Clint swallowed thickly, closing his eyes. "I'm sick aren't I? Sicker then I thought....I'm being taken off duty...what purpose do I have? I got Nat killed...I hurt you because I can't stay sane long enough to see you for you...I almost killed Tony...I'm going to prison right?Or the mental ward?"

"No. We knew you were sicker then everyone else knew.Only difference now, is now everyone else knows."She pointed out before sighing softly. "Well, I guess you could call Stark tower the mental ward. Tony said you could have the nest as long as you wanted it."

Clint closed his eyes thinking. He'd almost killed Tony, he hadn't realized just how dependant he'd made himself on Catalina. When he saw Tony kissing her, he'd felt betrayed, and furious. Simply assuming the man was taking advantage of her. Well, he was pretty sure he had been, even now, but he would have never attacked him if Clint hadn't been so dependant on her. Startling a little at her words he frowned, realizing what she said. 

"Did you just say Tony's not kicking me out?I tried killing him!"He complained, baffled and horrified, not at all understanding why Tony was letting him stay. Not at all understanding why Tony was letting him stay. Clearly 'friends' was a relatively new concept to him. 

"Yep. He said to tell you though..."She blushed ever so slightly, as she looked around the room, embarrassed at Tony's observation and not sure what to think about it. After all, she knew why Clint had reacted like he had, and it had had nothing to do with what Tony seemed to think it was. "Said it wasn't the first time a angry boyfriend beat him up, probably wouldn't be the last, but he wanted to tell you he's annoyed you didn't give him some warning."

"I...but I..don't...do I?"He stuttered, looking at a loss, and not even knowing what he was trying to ask her even as his mind raced. looking baffled, confused, and more then a little frightened by Tony's 'idea' of why he had been pummeled. Well...he had been angry when he thought Tony was kissing Natasha...he'd been enraged when he had thought Tony was kissing Catalina. 

"I know you don't. Look so worried, hawk."Catalina smiled watching the man leaning over to kiss his forehead.

"Cat? Thanks...for being there I mean. For helping me...and not leaving. I really appreciate it."Clint said catching the woman's hand in his, squeezing her fingers before letting go of her hand and looking away so she wouldn't see him fighting not to cry. Because he realized Tony was right...Catalina was more then 'just' his trainee...she wasn't a sister, or a friend. No, it was deeper then that.

"You're welcome."Catalina smiled as she stood, looking at him as she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Get some sleep Clint. I'll see you in the morning, I'm going home. Steve and Bruce said they'd stay the night."She said smiling ever so slightly as she headed for the door.

Clint tilted his head a little watching her go, wondering where home was for her. Did she mean her old apartment, or her rooms at the tower, or the nest? He hoped she meant the nest. It was his home yes, but he wanted it to be hers as well. And as he watched her go, he knew he was in deep trouble.


	6. Talks

Clint stirred slightly, cracking a eye slightly as he felt the body heat leaving the bed, frowning slightly as he looked around his room through half closed eyes, not panicked, she hadn’t woken him. Which meant whatever had driven her out of bed was serious, but not deadly serious.Having realized she had just as many problems sleeping as he did, he wondered what haunted his trainee so much to drive her out of a deep sleep. Watching her settle at the edge of the nest against the windows he watched the city lights play over her face for a moment before easing out of bed and moving to sit next to her, proud as she didnt startle at his near silent apprach. "You alright?"

Catalina shrugged a little glancing at the man sitting next to her, before returning to staring out the window, startling a little when he started talking, having not expected it, even if she'd assumed he'd gotten out of bed for a reason.

"....My mother was a whore you know. There was a man every night, it was the only way to afford the room."Clint admitted turning his head slightly to watch her face, deciding to try something new. Maybe if he talked, he could convince her to talk? "She'd get annoyed with me and beat me with a belt. Lock me in a closet until she was done with her...clients. By the time I was six, I had developed a sensitivity disorder....a single touch could burn like fire. And I learned early to be able to tell what moods people were in. If they were happy, I was safe, if they were mad, I had to hide. I always knew when someone was within a certain distance, and I always knew how many were in the room, even in the dark closet or in the middle of the night...when I was eight, my mother tried to start...selling me."He shuddered a little.

"I killed my first my person that night, a man who had paid to take my precious virginity....then I killed my mother. I spent the next two years on the street. It wasn't until I was found by Fury that my life took a upturn. I was ten when he started training me...he was the closest thing to a father I had....I still have nightmares. About the closet, about being beaten, about nearly being raped. They aren't so common now that I have nightmares about Natasha and Loki, but I still have them."

Catalina was quiet even as tears slid down her cheeks as she realized just how stupid she was being, other people had it so much worse then she did. Raising a hand she brushed them away, feeling guilty for getting him up out of bed when he slept worse then she did, when she should be happy, because she had had it better then him. Shifting a little, she leaned her shoulder against his, offering comfort and taking comfort in his presence. "My...my childhood wasn't like yours. I had the family, you know, that everyone sees on tv. The stay at home mom, the dad who was always home in the evening, the twin older brother who were always in trouble...but my father had fallen in love with my mother when she was a ballerina, but she didn't dance for fame, or anything. She danced for the love of dancing."

"She retired, after she got married. Yet father always was jealous when fans or the general public recognized her, even here, in the states-where she'd never danced. Even years after she retired, people knew her."

Clint's breath hitched a little as he watched the sadness in her face, took what he knew. She was in training to be what amounted to be a assassin...no one chose a life like that without trauma. And he had a sense he was about to hear about what had shaped this woman.

"Eventually...it got so bad he couldn't stand to have us kids around. He thought my brothers would seduce her, and I was always my mother's favorite, her little ballerina. She would pay attention to us...and that was to much for him. I forget what caused the final fight...I just remember I'd been watching the fireworks for Stark's 21st birthday party on TV when my brothers rushed in, bundled me up in my jacket and hat, and took me outside to the shed. Hid me there, with the orders to stay silent...and I did."She muttered absently rubbing her forearm when the only scar she possessed was, and Clint felt sick as he realized that he was looking at what her own teeth had done to her skin as she struggled to follow orders.

"He killed them all...and that was when I hit the foster system...I learned quickly to defend myself... because no one else would do it for me."She muttered her voice choked on tears, crumbling. For the first time in 13 years telling someone what had happened in that house. Having never told anyone exactly how she had ended up outside in the shed, or how things had gone down. No one, but Catalina had ever known for sure what had happened in that house.

Clint swallowed hard watching her with slightly wide eyes, shifting a little to take her hand in his, gently stroking his thumb over her knuckles."You're a very strong woman, you know that don't you? It's so much harder to have love and to lose it.What they say about love, better to have it and lose it, rather then to never have it at all? It's a load of shit, and I bet you know that."

"If I was stronger it wouldn't have taken me this long to talk about it."She muttered, hesitating before leaning into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Not necessarily. You'd been brutally traumatized, and even more, you had no one to trust. Sure, you had a few adults who wanted to help, but when you're in the system, how can you trust anyone when you know you're just going to be abandoned again? You just needed someone who would listen, not judge, and not abandon you later. Anyone would have done the same."Clint muttered turning his head a little, brushing his lips over her hair. "You lost everything Cat, in one well swoop. And I bet you even feel guilty about it....because the twins protected you, if they hadn't, you think, they might have lived....but that's not true, and I bet you know that to Your father would have done it, no matter if you had been there or not, your father would have killed you mother and brothers because he was jealous...and I bet you know that to."

Clint watched her face for a moment shifting to wrap her in a tight hug. "You had love torn away, and yet you're still a functioning adult. It's alright to feel guilty, its alright to hate your father. It's alright to be sad...it's normal to have nightmares, and it's alright to cry after."Clint muttered into her hair as he held her, remembering the nights when he'd woken up to find her out on the balcony, tears freezing on her cheeks in the frigid new york winter. 

"I wont leave you, I promise I wont leave like your father did."He said into the silence, stroking her hair gently, recognizing how much trust it had taken her to talk to him. Wanting nothing more then to keep her safe he cupped her face in a broad hand and leaned down to kiss her slowly, a silent promise.

Catalina started a little as he kissed her, before closing her eyes, kissing him back. Tasting her own tears and him, a unique taste of alcohol and cigarettes. Taking the comfort he offered, and feeling lost for a moment as he kissed her skillfully. While there had been kisses over the years, no one had gotten more then just one, or gotten more then a passing kiss. This was definitely more.

Pulling back Clint looked her over, watching her face, feeling horrible. Not because he hated the kiss, but because he thought he'd taken advantage of her emotional state. Not seeing the flicker of pain crossing her features as he pulled away. "Come on..let's go back to bed. You need to rest...and I need to try and not kill the woman who's going to ask intrusive questions about my feelings tomorrow."Clint grumbled with a slight sneer as he got to his feet. He didn't want to see a therapist, but with Tony still in the hospital, he knew he had to do something.

Catalina watched him for a moment, before smiling as she walked back to the bed. "Hey, I'll be right outside. Just think, we can go grab lunch and go for a jog after. Cause you know, tormenting me seems to make you feel better."She grumbled as she slid back into the bed, shifting around to get comfortable. 

"Well...alright. You wont leave? She might be evil you know...and tormenting you is always fun."Clint admitted. "It's the way you glare at me after, that makes it so interesting."

"I wont. And shut up, hawk,I'm trying to sleep."Catalina growled sleepily, even as she snuggled into the man to sleep.

~~**~~

Catalina smiled as she slumped down onto the couch, stretching her long legs out in front of her as she looked around. Amused that Tony had so many floors to his tower that this one of offices was hardly ever used. Nudging Clint's shoulder a little she looked at him. "I'll be out here okay? If you want to leave, leave. They said you had to see her, but no one expects you to be able to do everything at once."She said offering him a small worried smile, truly wondering how he was going to handle this.

"Fine."Clint muttered a little before looking up at the woman stepping out of the previously unused office. glad that Tony had offered the office space since it was neutral ground, but also in the tower so it meant it was safe ground to. A good spot to start this. Glaring a little though as he looked at the woman in front of him. She was all legs, all boobs, and smiling like a ditz at him. He hated it when people smiled at him. Definitely made him glad Tony was still in the hospital, otherwise the billionaire would be all over her. 

"I'm Jessica."

"Hello."Clint grumbled a little, sighing tiredly he pushed up off the couch and followed Jessica into the office.

~~**~~  
Stepping out of the office Jessica winced a little at the sound of breaking things, though it really wasn't unexpected, and why she'd made her that there wasn't anything he could really hurt himself on. offering a small smile to the worried looking woman sitting on the couch, "There's hope for him. He wants help, he just doesn't know how to ask or accept it."The therapist said before wincing at the sounds of smashing wood.

"I forgot about the chair....So. You've been with him for the last several weeks, when he started to really deteriorate?"Jessica asked as she sat down on the couch next to the woman watching her uneasily.

Catalina frowned slightly,really wanting to dislike her for upsetting clint, even if she knew it would help him in the long term. "I have been."She said after a moment, looking worried. She was worried the woman would try to seperate them because some would see such a extreme dependancy on each other, unhealthy. 

"I would like, if you're willing, to help with some sessions. Having someone he truly trusts there, could really help. He wont want to...cry...in front of someone like me, but we can't leave him to do it on his own...it would be bad for him to grieve on his own once he gets to that point."

"....I'll help. As long as you don't make me talk. This is his therapy, not mine."Catalina said scowling a little and being upfront about it. While she knew she needed to talk to someone, at the moment the only person she trusted enough to have a glimpse at her emotions, was having his own breakdown. 

"It's a little unhealthy, how dependent he is on you, but right now that might be exactly what he needs. Once he's not so...volatile...we'll try to carefully wean him off of you, and branch him out to the others. Tony, Steve, maybe...you should try and find others to depend on as well."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I'm fine."

Jessica studied the other woman for a long moment before sighing. "I can't make anyone talk Catalina, but I will have you know my oath of silence does in fact extend to you. I cannot tell anyone, not even fury what you or Clint tells me....so if you ever need to talk to me, and can't go to clint, I'm here."She promised. "And I'm on call 24/7 as well, anytime you or Clint need me, I'll be there okay?"

Catalina smiled nodding a little before glancing at the door as she heard more breaking wood. "...He'll keep breaking things until you stop him. Even walls aren't safe."Catalina said looking amused because she knew as skilled and focused as he was, Clint would keep going until he ran out of things to break, or his body gave out on him.

"So, he's not going to calm down even though he's probably oblierated the desk and chair in there?

"Probably not. He made me run for a fucking week cause I killed his vodka. He's a fucking sadist, I tell you. I told him to seek professional help, it's good he took my advice." 

Jessica's eyes went wide as she tried to not laugh at the idea of Clint punishing her for 'killing' something that wasn't alive. "Well...at least he's moved on from his dependancy on vodka....Did he really accuse you of 'killing his vodka?"

"Yes he did, and nearly cried when he said it. Of course, he was drunk at the time."  
"Oh, that poor man."Jessica said failing miserably to hide her snickers before calming."Do you think you can calm him down without getting hurt, or should I start offering bribes? I've heard he's fond of magic cards.

"Yea, probably. If not, I'll bribe him with promises of fulfilling his nerdish habit."She smirked before getting up, and cracking the door. "Hey, Hawk, if you don't calm down I'm going to go home and touch all your cards. Maybe even play a round with Tony."She said pausing. "You calm?I could use that run if you're done breaking things."

Clint paused, holding a chair leg in his hand as he smashed the wall, frowning slightly as he narrowed his eyes in a familiar way, the way he did when he couldn't decide if she was Catalina or Natasha, before deciding it had to be Catalina. Only because only Catalina would DARE touch his cards. "You leave my cards alone!You'll soil them!You're running three hours for even threatening that!"

"No. You're already making me do dancing today, I might day if I do running."She said.  
"Fine. Two hours then dancing after."Clint said with a sniff before looking at the chair leg in his hand, then at the room."Shit...I really do need help.Did I do all this?"

"Yes, you do, but that will be all for today, mr. barton. Try not to kill your trainee."Jessica said smiling as she left.

"And yes you did, but it's okay. Stark's paying for everything, it'll do him good to use some of his money."She snorted watching Jessica leave.

"I don't like her."Clint growled as tehy walked towards the elevator, heading downstairs to go for their run, since they'd dressed to leave as soon as they were done."She accused me of having sex with Natasha."

"....you can't not like her for telling the truth, Hawk."She hesitated frowning a little, not sure what to think of him hinting at not having sex with Natasha. EVERYONE, and she meant everyone, thought they were screwing. So why was he acutally getting bent out of shape over someone suggesting it?

"The truth!?"Clint asked looking rather horrified as they reached the bottom floor of the tower. "I've never fucked Natasha. Shit, she was my sister. I mean, granted, when we were younger we tried, but it was...weird!"He whined.

"Well, that's good to know. Even if none of the world will believe you.Everyone thinks you did."Catalina said laughing even as her mind scrambled to sort out what she was hearing. Surely she was hearing wrong. If he hadn't thought she was Natasha when he kissed her, it meant she'd been kissed because it was her. And that just was to much for her.

"Really, I can't believe people thought I was fucking Nat...I mean, gross."Clint muttered before smirking."Well?Are you coming!?It's time to RUN!"

"I'm coming, don't get your panties in a twist, sadist."Catalina grumbled as she started jogging after the man as he jogged next to her.

"I AM a sadist, but I don't wear underwear."


	7. going home

Glancing at the man sitting next to her she sighed softly, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back. Enjoying the sun even as she thought about what she didn't want to consider. “I know we have to be back by tomorrow afternoon, but care to drive to Greenwich with me tonight?”

Looking at Catalina as she reclined on the bench next to him, still panting slightly from the running, Clint looked concerned, and thoughtful. “...I...ah...don’t know how to drive.”

Catalina looked at him, for a moment distracted from the inner demons she was considering facing, by the odd thought of him not being able to drive. “How is it that you can fly a plane, helicopter, and jet, but not drive a car?”

“I've never had to drive, anyplace I needed to go, SHIELD dropped me from the sky. Anyplace I wanted to go in the city, I usually run or Tony has someone to drive me.Besides, I don’t exist. No birth certificate, no I.D.’s, no social security, how do you suppose I go about getting a license?”Clint scowled at his laughing trainee, before frowning. “What’s in Greenwich?”

“Home.”Catalina said simply before pushing up off the bench, knowing the man would be following.

~~**~~

“I still can’t believe you can’t drive. I’m going to teach you while you’re on leave, burrow one of Stark’s expensive cars. Maybe even wreck it.”Catalina teased snickering a little as she pulled into the driveway to a small two story Tudor house, leaning back into her seat as she stared up at it. 

“And I’ll get arrested for driving without a permit.”Clint complained watching her, reaching across the arm rest to slip a hand under hers on the wheel, tugging her hand down. Holding her hand gently, stroking shaking fingers. 

“I’m sure Tony has enough friends from getting arrested himself, to get you out for driving without a permit.”Catalina snickered a little, even as her fingers closed around his. 

Clint let out a strained snicker, watching her intently before getting out of the car. “Are you sure about this?”He asked as he walked around to her side of the car, and opened the door. 

“Yes.”Catalina swallowed hard looking up at him, before walking inside. Not even really aware that she was still holding Clint’s hand as she stepped inside, shuddering a little as she looked around the entrance way. “....My mother loved this entrance...it was big enough that we could dance, without worrying about knocking anything over...She was beautiful, Hawk, she was always so graceful.”She muttered, more to herself than to him, as she looked around her. 

Yet she wasn’t seeing the house she was seeing wasn't the current one that smelled of dust and mold, but one drenched in blood. She had never been walked back into this house, without seeing the moment at age 10 when she’d gotten out of the shed, come inside. Walking in, and tried to put together a butchered body, had tried to put the pieces back together, and only when she’d failed, had she gone for help.Shaking her head a little she dropped Clint’s hand, offering him a shaky smile when she saw him staring at her.

Clint watched her, a sad smile curling his lips as he imagined Catalina and a little girl in here, dancing away, beautiful and graceful. Her eyes, that beautiful blond hair, but with his nose and chin, with that infuriating cowlick in the back where his hair always swirled the wrong way....then he wanted to smack himself for thinking about that when she was in such obvious pain. Following her silently as she moved further into the house he stopped behind her, watching her as she paused at a doorway.

“...He terrified me. He was always so big....so strong and scary when he was angry. And he was always angry...”Catalina said quietly as she leaned against the door frame of her father’s study, while she’d emptied most of the other rooms, this one she’d left, because she’d never been able to bring herself to go in. Turning her head slightly she looked at the brunette with her, before staring back into the room that no matter how many times she’d had someone clean the floor, would never remove the bloodstains. 

Settling his hands on her shoulders, he rested his forehead against the back of her head, silently offering comfort, the strength she needed to do whatever she thought she had to face here. “...What happened to him?”

Catalina shifted, turning enough to wrap a arm around his waist, burying her face into his chest as she held onto him. “He’s alive. A permanent resident of Bellevue psych ward.”

“Sometimes a man simply isn't healthy.”Clint muttered rubbing her back, “Sometimes a man needs help, and doesn't get it.”He added, because he knew she didn’t want to believe that her father hated her, didn't want to think that he’d hated them all. “Are there pictures? I would like to see your mama and brothers.”

“Of course. Mama was picture obsessed. Come on. We’ll go up to my old room. My brothers were so jealous I got this room, but mama wanted me to have room to dance if I wanted to.”She added grinning as she headed up the ladder that led to the attic bedroom.

“Ah, yes brotherly love.”Clint chuckled, yelping as he smacked his head on one of the beams, rubbing his forehead. “A warning would have been nice.”

“Sorry. I was shorter the last time I was up here.”She teased, blushing a little as she looked up at him, pulling his head down to press a kiss to the abused skin. “Better?”

Clint smiled blushing slightly,”Yea.Pictures?”he said smiling as he sat down next to her on the bed, smiling as they started looking. Looking at pictures of a woman who was as beautiful as Catalina, with the same willowy grace, without a warrior’s build, twin boys who even in pictures were as reckless and daring as Tony was. Of a serious man who looked at his family with love, that changed as time past. Looking at the pictures he realized something. No wonder they got along so well, the two of them had never learned how to grieve, or connect with people. While he had never had a chance, horror had shut Catalina down just as she was learning. No wonder they were as dependent as they were on each other. “Your mother was beautiful.”

“She was. I can’t look in a mirror without seeing her.”She muttered smiling as they looked through the picture, fingers gently stroking over the pages, almost as if she could reach through and touch the family she’d lost.

“you were adorable to. All chubby faced and nimble footed.”Clint teased before smirking at one of the pictures. “Your brothers were as bad as Tony....how in the world did they end up blue?”He asked examining a picture of two sheepish looking boys, baby blue from head to toe.

“They decided the best way to help papa pain the house was to do a whole body effort.”Catalina said, and for the first time in awhile, laughter filled the house.

“Oh!Almost as bad as your brothers I see.”Clint teased as he looked at the picture of Catalina still in diapers, practically swimming in birthday cake because she’d been left unattended to long. 

“I was better than them, I just liked playing with my food.”Catalina smiled a little shifting to lean back against the headboard, for the first time since walking into the house, truly relaxing.

“Hmm, why are most of these pictures of you, covered in food?Look, you’re wearing your spaghetti bowl as a hat.”He teased as he turned back to the beginning of the album, not wanting to see how it ended. Having watched a happy father and husband start to regress into a jealous possessive man, he didn't want to see the end. Yet, in every picture, somehow, the woman and three children were always happy, always smiling. It made his heart ache to watch. “Either you hated food, or really liked bathes.”

“Hey. I love food, at least more then you do.”Catalina sputtered, distracted by his teasing that she didn’t even notice he’d switched back to the beginning. 

“You’re just as beautiful as your mother was.”He muttered shifting to settle down in the bed, tugging her down next to him yawning. “hmm I’m tired...”

“Thanks.”She said quietly, shifting to get comfortable, blushing ever so slightly. To confused and emotional to try and figure out what he meant by calling her beautiful.”Goodnight, hawk.”She muttered as she drifted to sleep.


	8. shouldn't have laughed(part 1)

Grumbling quietly to herself as she walked into the apartment, Clint smiled softly as she realized Clint was sleeping, heading for the bathroom. Quietly shutting the door behind her she stripped down to her sports bra to undo the binding on her ribs, wincing a little as she saw the darkening bruises over her ribs. The only saving grace that kept her from sulking was the fact that she’d picked up her custom made bow. 

Much like Clint’s, it was a compound fold-able bow, made on a slighter scale for the slighter woman’s build. The man had taken great care to make sure the string could be so easily pulled that it barely took effort, with a 5 pound resistance, but loosed a arrow with enough force to punch through bone. 

Glancing up at the knock on the door she smiled slightly as she shrugged one of tony’s dress shirts on, as it hurt to much to pull a t-shirt over her head. Cleaning up as she listened to Clint ramble.

“Cat?Cat I’m really sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. It was really stupid of me, I didn't mean it...I was just...I was panicked because I thought you were going to be mad at me for taking advantage of you again...I was already upset because of something the stupid shrink said and I was worried you were going to hate me, and I had a minor psychotic episode and well....the LOOK on your face....I’m really sorry...”Clint sighed. “I swear I wouldn't have laughed at you if I wasn't so fucked up in the head....I’ll let you play with my magic cards?”

“...You’d seriously let me play with your cards because you laughed at me?”She said looking amused as she opened the door, looking at him.

“Yes...no...you can look at them for ten minutes.”he decided. “But you can’t take them out of the protective packaging!”He was so obsessive it was cute. 

“Okay.”Catalina smiled looking amused he was so obsessed, she didn't care if she got to look at them, she just liked teasing him. Flushing as she looked at him she stepped closer, biting her lip as she stared at the man in front of her. Before raising a hand to touch his face, drawing him down for a gentle kiss. A nervous one before darting back, studying his reaction. “For that bow, I’d forgive about anything. It’s amazing Hawk.”She muttered willing to forgive him for laughing because well, Tony....and frank....and Bruce...not to mention Steve, had all laughed when she’d ranted at them.

Clint smiled looking pleased he’d gotten kissed before blushing brightly, looking down and fidgeting. “I really...uhm....kinda...Ireallykkindalikeyoualot.”He stated in a furious rush before cursing Jessica under his breath, muttered about how he wasn't emotionally repressed, and that he could to admit he was falling in love with his trainee, and that Jessica could go leap off a burning mountain and die.

“A burning mountain?I like you to.”Catalina snickered a little wrapping her arms around him, before wincing, yelping as she stepped back, “bloody hell...”She cursed slumping a little, rubbing a hand over her face. “I need you to rebind my ribs.”

“Hey, I know better then to think she’d just jump.”Clint muttered before frowning a little, tugging tony’s shirt up to look at her ribs, ignoring the tantalizing view and gently probing the bruised area. “There aren't any breaks, I think it’s just a bad bruise. Hurts bad enough as it is I suppose.Wait here, I’ll get binding.”He said as he went to step out of the bathroom, before looking at bruce as the man appeared down the hall. Taking one look at the man’s face he frowned a little, “What’s wrong?”

Bruce silently handed the newspaper in his hand over, wincing as Clint simply walked away.

“Wha-?”Catalina looked at the good doctor as he stepped into the room, before reaching for the paper Clint had handed back to him. Mumbling a quiet curse before following Clint into the living room, paling slightly at the sight of clint completely destroying the furniture.

Studying the man for a long moment she hoped that everyone else was intelligent enough to stay away, because she trusted Clint not to lash out at her, she wasn’t counting on the same rules for everyone else. “Hawk?You promised to help...”She said walking further into the room, moving gingerly, subtly exaggerating how hurt she was, counting on his obsessive need to make sure she was okay, to shift his focus to her instead of the reporter who seemed intent on committing violent suicide.

Clint snarled at the girl as she stepped closer, but slid calmly off the couch and gently pulled her into a hug, burying his face against her neck. Relaxing he slumped into her a little and took the first aid kit from her, making her sit down before starting to wrap her ribs. “Sorry...I’ll buy you a new one....I had to kill something, and I don’t think the hulk would have been happy if I’d gone after Bruce...The shrink said I should go after things that don’t bleed...so I did....”

“Yea, well, I don’t think Bruce would have appreciated it either.” 

“Eh. Bruce would have been fine, I couldn't have hurt him....granted, I would have ended up in the hospital next to Tony for trying though...”

Clint studied her for a long moment, “I’m sorry the papers are saying such stupid crap about you...it’s all my fault.”

Catalina winced a little as her eyes filled with tears, looking away from him. She’d worked hard to have a reputation as a archer, worked hard to be his equal, but at the end of the day, she’d been reduced to Tony stark’s newest conquest. “W-what?It’s not your fault. I’m the one who got drunk with him at his party.”She pointed out sighing quietly, shuddering as his fingers brushed against her skin, closing her eyes and enjoying the simple touch.

“No, it’s my fault. If I hadn't made such a scene about it, you never would have been noticed...or did you think every women Tony flirts with or sleeps with ends up in the news?”He asked lifting a eyebrow because honestly, Tony slept with so many people, it was impossible to keep up. 

“Well...that’s true...though he probably makes the paper every time he gets his ass kicked.”

Clint hesitated for a moment before leaning forward pressing a kiss to her bandaged ribs.”There, how’s that feel, better?”

Catalina gasped lightly as his lips brushed over her ribs, bolting to her feet, already twisting to drive a knife home before she checked the instinctive move even as he slid away. “...sorry...”Having not expected the kiss, it had startled her into reacting without thinking.

“You’re so cute that you actually think you can hurt me. Come on, you need painkillers and a long nap. We’ll even put in Hansel and Gretel:Witch Hunters since you’ve been after me to watch it.”Clint teased a little, because he’d never admit it, but he loved watching movies with her. Before he hadn't really found the movies interesting, but watching her watch them was amusing....even if he’d had to have Tony get a tv for him, as he hadn’t had one before despite the billionaire’s complaining about it.

“...you’re being awfully cheeky for a man who already owes me time with his cards.”She muttered before heading to the bathroom to get painkillers, offering Bruce a small smile as the doctor silently made his exit before heading back to the living room.

“Come on. We’re sleeping down here tonight, you can’t get up the rope with bruised ribs.”Clint said tugging her towards the small cot and tv in the corner, trying not to make a face. He hated sleeping ‘below’ it made him feel all exposed, but he’d do it for her. Quiet as she put in the movie he smiled as he laid down, snuggling her as the movie started.”...you know, this guy looks familiar....”

“Kinda looks like you...not as cute, but bristling with weapons and awkward.”She teased looking amused as she rested her head on his chest, content to just rest in his arms, trusting him to keep her safe.

“He doesn't look anything like me!...those weapons though...I do like that...I wonder if there’s a way to replicate that crossbow...”he wondered. Typical, he was more fascinated with the weapons then the pretty girls on the screen. Amused as he glanced down at the woman sleeping on him, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he drifted to sleep himself.  
~~**~~

Tony shifted a little, leaning back into the pillows as he read the paper, glancing up at the super soldier as he stepped into his bedroom. “Did you see today’s tabloids?Pepper picked them up for me.”

“I saw them.”Steve said looking concerned before sighing softly. 

Which one do you think’s going to kill the reporter first?”Tony said smirking as he looked at the paper in his hands, knowing that both assassins were going to lose their minds when they saw the papers, the rumors that were flying about the love triangle in Stark tower, not to mention the way to personal pictures of them together. Oh yea, it was going to be a interesting tim to live in Stark tower.

“I don’t think they’ve seen it yet. They’re not going to be happy. Fury is...well, furious, for reasons I don’t fully understand. He seems to get a little weird when it comes to hawkeye, have you noticed?”

“I know. Clint’s been with SHIELD since he was nearly a kid. Fury pretty much raised him. It is weird.”Tony agreed before sighing.

“Seriously?Fury can raise people?....well..that explains some things about Clint.”Steve said amused.

“Weird right?”

“Uh-huh....Anyways, I’ve been avoiding the tower, I don’t want to be there when Clint explodes. He’s much better now, but I don’t think he’s going to handle this well. Someone’s going to get hurt, and I don’t want it to be me.”Steve sighed shaking his head.

“Someone is, and for once I think I can live with that. If the paparazzi want to stalk two people who make a living out of shooting people, they deserve whatever they get.”

“Cat got herself injured again.”

“I know. She stopped by to visit before she headed back to the tower. Seems Clint laughed at her for snapping a bowstring on her breast and pissed her off enough to not pay attention during training.”he snickered a little.

Steve winced a little. “I can’t imagine her being to forgiving for that.”

“She wasn’t....until she saw her new bow....and well, she’s in love with the idiot. IT makes her forgiving.”Tony said smiling a little as he leaned his head into Pepper’s hand, enjoying the feeling of her playing with his hair. They had a odd relationship, but he loved his wife, even if he had issues with admitting it.

“I haven’t seen the bow yet, is it really so amazing?”

“It’s state of the art. It’s like...”Pepper paused thinking before smirking. “It’s like if you just went to Verizon and picked out a factory issued phone, compared to a hand crafted, work of art built specifically for you by Tony.”

Steve raised his eyebrows at that, looking thoughtful. He understand that now, he might not know bows, but he’d seen some of the phones Tony crafted with almost no effort. “How are you feeling anyways? Any word when you get to go home?”

“Tomorrow. I’m hoping by the afternoon so I can see the therapist. Just think, everyone in the tower can see the same woman.”Tony smirked looking pleased with the idea of flirting with someone in the tower instead of having to go out of his way to find her.

“You let him get away with this?”Steve said smirking at pepper a little as the woman played with Tony’s hair. Looking amused as she just shrugged.”....Tony, is Pepper some sort of weird human cyborg?”

“No, not a cyborg. Just a pervert who enjoys punishing me for being a flirt.”Tony snickered as pepper burst out laughing.

“Don’t make me punish you while you’re already hurt Tony. You won’t like it nearly as much.”Pepper warned with a smirk, not about to mention that Tony didn’t just ‘flirt’, but Steve’s old fashioned morals wouldn’t be able to handle a thing like a ‘open’ relationship. After all, Tony wasn’t the only one who slept outside their marriage, Pepper was just more subtle about it.

“...That’s just unkind. Just because I was to stupid to realize he was in love with her, doesn’t mean I should be punished forever more....Though life will get interesting when they realize it.”Tony pouted, but the laughter in his ruined the effect.

“Even if he wasn’t in love with her, do you really think he would have let you fuck his apprentice Tony?I mean really, that’s just common sense. He would have handled it better if he wasn’t insane though.”Steve said snickering a little. “He was thinking of buying you something nice as a apology for...”he Steve stopped, adopting a confused expression. “ for ‘flipping his lid all over your ass.’ whatever that means.”

“Your non-grasp on slang amuses me.”Tony snickered shaking his head a little before shrugging. “Well, he’ll think of something amusing. And happy. Maybe porn.”

“T-”

“Tony Stark?”A large man poked his head into the room, his smirk curling his lips and even dressed in a tux, it was obviously he was ripped enough that Pepper nearly swooned at the sight.

“yes?”

“Compliments from Clint Barton. He’s already paid....anything ‘extra’ will be up to you.”The man winked at pepper even as he turned on the music on his phone and started stripping right there in the room. Just for tony.

Tony snickered rubbing a hand over his face, smirking as he watched Steve flee to the corner of the room and stare with wide mortified eyes, yet wasn’t able to look away. “I’, going to kill him...if he was going to get a stripper, he could have at least got a female.”He whined before frowning at his wife, nudging her. “No, you can’t look. I can’t have sex, you can’t go admiring the pretty boy.”

Pepper giggled looking at him, shooting Steve a look in amusement before looking down at tony.”But he’s so pretty.”

Tony rolled his eyes as he tossed the stripper a tip, waving a hand towards the door. “Go. Before my wife jumps you, and I feel the need to beat you up for it.”he grumbled even if he looked amused.

“Thanks mate.”The stripper smirked, tossing tony a wink. “Shame all the cute ones are straight.”He complained as he walked out.

“...I...I think I need to see a therapist.”Steve muttered as he staggered out the door. 

Pepper snickered,burying her face in tony’s shoulder as she curled up on the bed next to him, “I think he’s the only one who didn’t know he was gay. I mean honestly, he’s so obvious about it, between watching you and Clint, and he doesn’t even seem to know it...he’s like a little kid.”She snickered. “I bet you a hundred bucks Clint made sure Steve was here before he sent in the stripper.”

“I’m surrounded by idiots. Steve not knowing he’s gay, Clint and Cat not knowing they’re in love, Fury not knowing he’s a bastard....idiots.”Tony grumbled good naturally before shaking his head. “He is a little kid, and I’m not taking that bet. It’s a fool’s bet.”


	9. Chapter 9

In the weeks that followed the world once again settled into a normal rhythm of things. With Clint sending Tony a bottle of Stoli Elit vodka and a bottle of Revana red wine for pepper as a apology for nearly killing her husband. Not to mention the large collection of porn he’d had delivered to the Starks’, all in all the two were very happy billionaires, who found Clint’s gift giving amusing.

Though he still had his moments of seeing Natasha, Catalina was usually able to talk him down again. Jessica found the whole team fairly amusing, especially when Steve had dragged Clint into her office and pretty much shoved him in, and demanded she ‘fix him’. She’d nearly started laughing in the good captain’s face. She was currently fighting not to laugh as she watched the female assassin pacing the room in front of her.

“-I turn 24 tomorrow for god’s sake, you would think I could tell him that. Or admit that I want to, you know, have sex with him. But noooo, I tell him I’m fine when he asks what’s wrong, and tease him for looking like Jeremy Renner in Hansel and Gretel instead of talking to him. There’s something wrong with me. Seriously. 24 and a virgin, definitely not normal.”

“Who says it’s not normal to be a virgin at 24?I’m a virgin, and I’m 36.”Jessica said looking amused as she watched the woman.

“Well, you’re weird. We’ve all agreed on this, even Tony, who thinks all women are amazing.”

“Tony is going to lose his balls if he tries to touch my ass again.”Jessica huffed, chuckling.

Catalina sighed laughing a little as she ran her fingers through her hair, slumping down onto the couch as she looked at the other woman.

“Listen, Cat. Don’t you think you’re pushing youself to hard?You wouldn’t be having such problems asking him, if you were truly ready for that kind of step. You need to calm down, and think about why you want to have sex with him....once you know why, then maybe you wont have such issues. Do you want to sleep with him because it’s expected?Because you want him to like you? Or because you’re tired of being afraid?”

“...I haven’t celebrated my birthday since my mother died. I just...never wanted to. It makes me panic a little thinking about telling Hawk yes, I really am getting older, and that I want a fucking birthday cake, with the candles and presents and to put that bearskin rug in the penthouse’s living room to good use....Hawk tells me I have no other mode but to push myself hard...be it in here, or in the archery room.”She sighed, shifting to get comfortable, sulking a little. Having gotten scolded the day before for spending so many hours shooting that her should had seized up when she’d stopped, the woman was annoyed with clint for yelling at her.

“Well, that might very well be true. You’re simply trying to prove yourself to the hardest critic in the world. Yourself. But you can’t push yourself so hard, because if you do, you might damage yourself irreparably....Clint claims you’re advancing at a extraordinary rate, but he’s worried about you. I’m bending the rooms slightly, but he thinks you’re approaching a massive breakdown. He’s worried that you’re going to go insane and he wont be able to help you, particularly since he’s a ‘bag full of cats.’ Becoming better is good, but you have to take care of yourself to. Clint’s been training since he was eight year old, you’re not going to measure up to him, ever. Just like I’m never going to be as good as my teacher.”

Catalina sat up, slouching over her knees, pressing the heels of her hands into her forehead as she rested her head in them, anxious and nervous, and she knew she was quickly approaching that mental breakdown, not because of how hard she pushed herself, but because the woman wanted to be normal so badly that she was breaking herself. Having locked her heart and mind down when her family died, the woman was finally dealing with what had happened, instead of just ignoring it.

“I’m not going insane, though I’m pretty sure that breaking some furniture is in my future soon.”She sighed shuddering a little. She knew she needed help, she knew it was going to be hard, but the woman was trusting both Jessica and clint to help her when she eventually hit that wall. Quiet for a long moment before sighing.”I’m tired Jess. I really am. I’m tired of thinking everything can be taken away if I celebrate, if I’m happy.”She said, relaxing as the realization settled over her. “I want Hawk, cause I’m in love with him, and I want him to know just how much I trust him. And well...Tony goes on and on about it. I wanna know what the big deal is.”She muttered a smile tugging at her lips, hiding a truth in the joke. She wanted to have sex yes, but more than that, she wanted Clint to know how much she trusted him not to hurt her.

“Then stop thinking that way. Get out there, tell him you want a birthday cake, tell him you want a present, and tell him you want to trust him. He wont feel badly if you want sex, he’s a man, but he’s a GOOD man, and he’ll stop if you tell him to. If you need him to. That’s why you trust him so much, because you know that he will stop, and he wont hate you for it afterwards. Just like he stopped Tony...granted, it was...a bit over the top, but he meant well.”

“It was a little over the top wasn’t it?”Catalina snickered a little running a hand through her hair.

“It was.”Jessica said,smiling as shewatched her, “Cat, you’re finally facing the biggest trauma of your life, it’s alright to feel out of sorts, whatever you’re feeling, it’s okay... You also have your other friends to help you. Tony is a asshole, but he’d stop a bullet for you. Pepper adores you, Bruce thinks you’re amazing, even Steve the wonder-boy thinks you’re ‘pretty alright’. Jarvis thinks your a god on earth to. And Nick Fury would do anything to make you happy, simply because it makes Clint happy. You have a large circle of support now Catalina, try not to push them away, okay?”

“I’ll try not to.”Catalina smiled because she knew she had a lot of people, but after so many years of having no one, it was hard to open up and let them help. Stepping out of the room Catalina smiled as she watched Clint inspect his new magic cards, looking amused. Smirking to herself, she knew she knew she was being mean, but it was such a rarity she got to surprise him, that she was going to enjoy it. “I turn 24 tomorrow. I want cake. And presents.”She said leaning down to kiss him lightly. “And a private party, No Tony, no pepper, no one but us. And movies.”

“....cake?”Clint asked, his eyes widening. “You’re birthday’s tomorrow?!That’s not fair!How am I supposed to get a kick ass present in such a short time?!”He demanded before fleeing the room. 

“Well. At least you know you’re more important then his cards.”Jessica snickered a little looking at the pile of scattered cards on the floor, dropped in Clint’s hurry to leave.

“I can’t wait till he realizes he left me in charge of getting them safely in his book.”Clint snickered a little as she crouched down to pick up the cards.

“You do know that was unnecessarily cruel to him?He wants to make your birthday perfect now. And you gave him less then a few hours to do it, naughty girl.”Jessica teased looking amused.

 

~~**~~

“Hey, how was shopping?”Catalina smiled a little as she looked up from the food she’d been bullied into eating, instead of her normal cereal when left on her own. Once Tony had realized it was her birthday, he’d done his typical bored genius routine and ordered food from Clint’s favorite Italian restaurant, her fear of celebrating shoved away in favor of enjoying just how ridiculous her friends and boyfriend was being over it.

“It was awful!People are idiots.”Clint declraed sulking as he slumped into his chair next to her. Enjoying the view from Tony’s penthouse, even if he was sulking. “ You should have given me at LEAST a week’s warning, Cat! I shouldn’t have given you your bow, it would have been the perfect present. Why didn’t you tell me!?”he complained.

“I’m sorry.”Catalina flushed, pickign her her lasagna looking upset. It had been hard for her to even admit that she wanted to do something for her birthday, she hadn’t considered how upset he’d be over it.

“You are not. You did this on purpose so you could see me running about like a chicken with it’s head cut off. Cruel cruel woman.”Clint declared, scowling as Pepper snickered.

“I’m surprised he could say that all in one breath.”Pepper giggled a ittle looking amused.

“I couldn’t find a good present so I bought a lot of little things...next year will be better.”Clint promised looking at his girlfriend before pausing, staring at the food. “...Is that chicken gnochi and three cheese ravioli?”He asked looking delighted as he dragged his meal over to him, moaning as he took a bite. “Oh god, you got this from Trattoria L’Incontro.”He purred. It was New York’s number one Italian restaurant, five star, and only Tony Stark was capable of getting a restaurant like that to deliver food to him. It was Clint’s favorite, even if he could only go once a year usualy.

“Yep. Called on short noticed and delivered for Catalina’s eating pleasure. My birthday present for her, since she didn’t give me time to design something awesome.”

“,...you really didn’t have to do anything...I had planned on pizza and cake...”Catalina muttered looking awkward.

“Cat, I can get Trattoria’s to deliver. What’s the use of knowing Clint’s favorite restaurant if I can’t do this every once in awhile?”

“Thanks tony.”Catalina said smiling a little.

“Did you remember my tiramisu?”Clint said looking at the food on the table, smiling a little, before smirking. “I feel bad that I’m enjoying Cat’s birthday present more then she is. We’ll have pizza tomorrow. From Tony’s favorite joint. So that he’ll eat the pizza and leave us alone.”Clint decided smirking a little. 

“Of course. I’ve already been beaten up once, I’m not getting beaten up over a dessert.”Tony whined a little. 

“I am enjoying it. I just hadn’t expected everyone to be so eager to celebrate.”

“Of course Tony’s eager to celebrate your birthday, its a excuse to get drunk, why wouldn’t he celebrate?”Clint said, though he winced a little at the reminder of the beating. Glad that Tony was actually joking about it really.

“Tony needs no excuses to get drunk. Besides he’s not allowed drinking. He’s still on painkillers.”

“So I’ve been told.”Tony sulked a little, because all four women in his life- his wife, Catalina, and Jessica, not to mention the really scary one of Natasha- had yelled at him for mixing alcohol and painkillers.

“You can’t drink?That’s gotta suck.”Clint snickered a little.

“It does.”Tony agreed.

“Don’t be upset.”Catalina muttered looking at her boyfriend.

“I’m not upset. Just a little annoyed that I wasn’t smart enough to look into your records to find out your birthday for myself. It would have been great surprise party material.”He admitted smiling. “Tiramisu now please.”he demanded as he finished his soup, smilng pleased as Pepper shoved his favorite dessert into his hands.

 

”No, it wouldn’t have.”She said frowning a little, because while she was interested in celebrating, it wouldn’t have been good to surprise. 

“Well no.....maybe not.”Clint said studying her looking amused.

“Here. Try.”Clint said offering Catalina a bite of his tiramisu.

“So, I’m special enough for magic cards and tiramisu?”Catalina teased as she took a bite, a pleased hum escaping as she swallowed.

“Of course. You’re a beautiful woman, there’s nothing more special than that.”Tony said smirking, flirting just a little, because it amused him to watch her blush, but he wasn’t even looking at her really. There was more teasing than intention in his voice, he’d rather be her friend then sleep with her. 

Narrowing his eyes at Tony, Clint offered a growl, but it was clear Clint was trying not to laugh at the man. “We’re going to put silver nitrate in your food you utter pervert.”

“Silver nitrate?”

“You can’t do that. You’ll not only disappoint most of the woman in New York, you’ll disappoint Pepper, which could make life uncomfortable.”Tony said smirking a little, proving that he did follow some things even if it wasn’t his field of interest.

“Hm, it’s one of those conspiracy theories that the military puts it in the soldiers food to drop their libido. We’ll do a running test on Tony to see if actually works.”Clint responded to Pepper’s question.”I’m sure she’d forgive me. It’s a matter of public safety after all, and you’re all about that aren’t you?”

“Not when I’m not having sex!”Tony grumbled but looking amused as he watched Clint look at Catalina’s face as she savored the bite of tiramisu.

Smiling a little before groaning as Clint glanced at Catalina. Staring at her for a moment before shoving the plate towards her, sighing a little. How could he resist such a face? She looked like heaven had come early.

Tony smirked watching as the woman dug into the food happily, little moans escaping every once in awhile. Tony snickered shaking his head. “Maybe she wont need you Clint, it seems she’s enjoying the dessert way to much.”he snorted amused because the woman looked to be in orgasmic bliss.

“What?Nooo. I need him.”Catalina looked up from her food looking confused before pushing the last few bites back to Clint. “Thank you. That was a amazing birthday present.”

“Bring two next time.”Clint demanded, a little unhappy that he’d given it away, because hell, it was tiramisu from Trattoria’s, but the look on her face was enjoyable then some tongue orgasm he could be having otherwise. Looking delighted as he took the last few bites, he leaned over to kiss her. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Oh!Did you guys hear? They’re making movies. Of US!”He smirked a little at the sputtered gasps. “Yea, they’re doing movies on all of us. The hulk, thor, iron man...potraying all our best sides. I’m not getting my own movie. Completely unfair, I’ve done impressive things!”

Catalina looked startled before laughing. “You can’t do one about Tony. No one will be able to have that much sex in it.”She said before leaning over to kiss him lightly.”I know you have. But you’ll be in everyone else’s movie, which is better then anything. Cause you’ll be in everything.”

“Mmm, you taste like tiramisu.”Clint muttered before sighing. “This is true. But I’m beginning to feel ignored.”He admitted shooting Tony a look. “People are more interested in Tony, or the hulk than they are a kick ass assassin with his bow and arrows...”

“Hm, I wont ignore you. Who cares about the others?”She pointed out, smirking at Pepper. “Besides, who could ignore such good weapons, when they’re better then Stark’s?”

“Stop. Stop right there. I’ll be scarred for life if we continue talking about Legolas’ weapon.”Tony whined looking amused though.

Catalina giggled as she stretched yawning as she looked around the table, smiling at the sight of all the people she cared for, even if not all of them were there, there were there anyways. “I’m going to bed. I’m full and happy. Thanks guys, this was amazing.”She said, needing to get away from them, because no matter how much she cared for them, she was still anxious.

“Yea, I’m tired to. Shall we watch a movie tonight? I picked up the hobbit today, it’s supposed to be good, and I figured if a certain someone is going to call me Legolas, I might as well see what he’s talking about.”Clint smiled as he and Catalina left the Starks’ penthouse, heading for their own level.

“Sounds perfect.”Catalina grinned at him.


End file.
